Blinken vows to oppose Israel settlements, annexation in occupied West Bank

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has promised to counter Israeli settlements or annexation in the occupied West Bank, but noted Washington would judge the new government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by actions and not personalities.

Netanyahu is expected within days to return to power after sealing a coalition deal with extreme-right movements including Religious Zionism, which is set for a post in charge of settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking to J Street, a progressive pro-Israel US advocacy group, on Sunday, Blinken offered congratulations to the veteran Israeli leader, who has clashed with previous Democratic administrations in Washington.

"We will gauge the government by the policies it pursues rather than individual personalities," Blinken said.

But he said President Joe Biden's administration would work "relentlessly" to preserve a "horizon of hope," however dim, for the creation of a Palestinian state.

"We will also continue to unequivocally oppose any acts that undermine the prospects of a two-state solution including but not limited to settlement expansion, moves toward annexation of the West Bank, disruption to the historic status quo of holy sites, demolitions and evictions and incitement to violence," Blinken said.

Religious Zionism's leader Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is expected to have a key role, is a staunch advocate of Jewish settlements and used to hang in his living room a portrait of Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Palestinian worshippers at a Hebron mosque in 1994.

The November 1 election was Israel's fifth in less than four years and came after the collapse of a motley coalition that tried to keep out the scandal-plagued Netanyahu.

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