“Annexing even the less populated areas of the West Bank makes no practical sense to Netanyahu—if anything, it invites huge political risk in exchange for very little,” writes Dimi Reider. “So long as Obama was in the Oval Office, Netanyahu could indicate understanding for [settler parties’] annexationist drive, but argue convincingly that the world—especially the United States—wouldn’t stand for it. Trump’s rise could take Netanyahu’s alibi away.”

Kulanu party leader Moshe Kahlon on Wednesday agreed to support the controversial bill that seeks to legalize West Bank outposts, giving it likely majority support in the Knesset.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition allies on Tuesday scuppered a Knesset vote scheduled for Wednesday on a controversial bill that seeks to clamp down on the Muslim call to prayer broadcast on loudspeakers from minarets.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he hoped President Barack Obama would not back any new U.N. initiatives on Palestinian-Israeli peace in the final weeks of his term.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes that President-elect Donald Trump won’t invest his energies in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” writes Akiva Eldar.

Palestinian groups see their activism as part of broader resistance to the Trump presidency and, in protesting the Trump win, believe they are finding common ground with others opposed to Trump, including Jewish groups appalled by his white nationalist supporters.

“Phares is one of a number of close Trump advisers with extremely troubling foreign- policy views which basically mirror those of Islamic extremists: Islam and the West are at war. It’s difficult to overstate how counterproductive it would be for the US to adopt this vision,” FMEP’s Matt Duss told The Jerusalem Post.

“In their attempt to prove allegiance to the settlers, right-wing ministers are finding creative new ways of misleading the public,” writes Noam Sheizaf.

In a rare move, Israel’s Civil Administration approved a master plan for a small Palestinian village in the northern occupied West Bank. In a statement received by Ma’an on Tuesday, the Civil Administration, which controls zoning and construction in Area C of the West Bank, said that the higher zoning committee had approved a master plan for the Palestinian village of Tinnik in the Jenin district.

Ahead of the Fatah conference, activists are claiming that President Mahmoud Abbas persecutes all those suspected of supporting his exiled rival, Mohammed Dahlan.

Many of Donald Trump’s top advisors have ties to the Mojahedin-e Khalq, a shadowy Iranian opposition group that was classified as a terrorist organization until recently.