New York, December 27 (RHC)-- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump paid money to the Israelis in 2003 to support constructions in an illegal settlement, located in the occupied land of Palestine. According to a recently released report, the New York billionaire donated $10,000 to the illegal Beit El settlement in the occupied West Bank 13 years ago.
The money was transferred by the Donald J. Trump Foundation through an American NGO raising funds for the settlement, considered illegal by most of the international community. The real estate mogul and reality TV star’s donations were not limited to American Friends of Beit El as he also paid the American Jewish Committee and the American Jewish Historical Society.
The family of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has also paid money to the settlement. Trump has been trying to involve Kushner and his daughter, Ivanka, in his administration, set to enter the White House on January 20th, 2017, amid concerns that the move could serve as blow to the situation in Palestine, given Kushner’s close ties with the ruling Likud party in the hands of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a recent interview with Fox News, the future U.S. president said he had to see "how the laws read,” when asked if the two would be moving to Washington, DC.
Jason Greenblatt, the chief legal officer and executive vice president at the Trump Organization, recently said that Trump does not think the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories should be condemned because they do not pose “an obstacle to peace.”
Over half a million Israelis live in more than 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Tel Aviv has defied international calls to stop the settlements expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Trump administration is expected to be profoundly negative for Palestinian aspirations while buoying Israel's confidence. His pick for the ambassador to Israel has also caused concern among experts as they say the nominee is likely to provoke more conflicts in the Middle East.
In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, the mogul-turned-politician even vowed to take the U.S. embassy to East Jerusalem, adding that “a Trump administration would finally accept the long-standing Congressional mandate to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the state of Israel."
