From Norway to the World: The Global Blowback of Netanyahu’s Settler Agenda
In the complex tapestry of Israel’s international relations, few developments have been as consistently damaging as the ongoing expansion and promotion of West Bank settlements. This week, we received a stark reminder of the mounting international price tag for this policy: the Norwegian government announced its intention to draft legislation that would ban all trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
For many in the international community, this is not merely a policy disagreement; it is a manifestation of a fundamental concern that the current Israeli government’s commitment to the settlement enterprise is systematically dismantling the possibility of a two-state solution. While the halls of power in Jerusalem may choose to frame this as “anti-Israel bias,” we must be intellectually honest enough to recognize it for what it is: a direct, predictable, and accelerating consequence of the Netanyahu cabinet’s ideological obsession.
For years, the Netanyahu-led coalition has sought to blur the lines between the sovereign State of Israel and the disputed territories of........
