The visit was part of a special program organized by the ‘American Association for Israeli Education,’ a conservative pro-Israel group led by Heather Johnston, according to an American news site. The American-Israeli Republican activist, Marc Zell, was quoted as saying that ‘the region is the legitimate property of the Jewish people,’ describing Johnston as ‘the highest-ranking American official to visit West Bank settlements.’ The site noted that the visit, not organized by Washington, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or the American Embassy in Jerusalem, surprised Israeli officials. Neither American Ambassador Mike Huckabee nor any of his team joined Johnston’s meetings on Sunday with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. It is noted that the West Bank is located in the heart and extends approximately 100 kilometers long and 50 kilometers wide, and has been under Israeli control since the 1967 war. Most countries worldwide consider this area occupied territory and the settlements in it illegal under international law, as affirmed by the International Court of Justice, the highest judicial body of the United Nations, in a decision issued in July 2024.
