US envoy said to ask State Department to stop calling West Bank ‘occupied’

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has reportedly asked the US State Department to stop using the term “occupied” in official documents referring to Israeli control over the West Bank. According to a report by the Kan public broadcaster on Tuesday, the State Department refused.Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories FREE SIGN UPHowever, due to pressure “from above” the two sides agreed that the issue will be discussed again and that US President Donald Trump will have the final say, the report said.Friedman has in the past run afoul of his State Department superiors over his views on the West Bank.In September, the US State Department publicly rejected remarks he made pertaining to Israel’s presence in the West Bank as not reflective of the administration’s stance.At the time, spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters that Friedman’s comments in an interview with the Hebrew-media Walla news website, in which he said he considers West Bank settlements to be part of Israel should “not be read as a shift in US policy.”Earlier the same month Nauert was forced to clarify another statement Friedman made to Israeli media, in which he referred to Israel’s “alleged occupation” of the West Bank.“Our position on that hasn’t changed,” Nauert told reporters. “The comment does not represent a shift in US policy.”

 

Source: US envoy said to ask State Department to stop calling West Bank ‘occupied’ | The Times of Israel