Ruth Lieberman, a Jewish settler in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is committed to countering international efforts for a sovereign Palestinian state, leveraging her connections with prominent U.S. Republicans from the party’s religious right.
Weeks after the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Lieberman hosted pro-Israel, conservative Senator Mike Lee, a Mormon, for a Shabbat meal at her family home, according to Senate records.
During their discussion, Lieberman conveyed to Lee that the attack had intensified Israeli opposition to Palestinian statehood. Lieberman resides in Alon Shvut, near Bethlehem, within one of the West Bank’s largest settlement clusters, Gush Etzion. Lee did not respond to requests for comment.
Lieberman, a political consultant who frequently hosts U.S. delegations visiting settlements, says such visits are crucial in aligning the views of senior Republican officials with settlers and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government post-Oct. 7. “Having friends and voices like that in very high places in the U.S. helps us,” she remarked, mentioning Lee and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, an evangelical Christian who visited her family in February 2020 during Donald Trump’s presidency. Johnson did not respond to requests for comment.
Since Oct. 7, Lieberman and others have ramped up efforts to influence the Republican Party’s stance ahead of the November U.S. election, which could see Trump return to office. Last month, Lieberman and a delegation of settler officials met with Johnson and Lee, among others, in Washington to press their case.
Reuters visited two Gush Etzion settlements and spoke with two dozen Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel, along with three current and former Trump aides and three evangelical leaders between March and July. These individuals described grassroots groups of settlers, Israel’s religious right, and conservative Christians working to persuade Trump and the Republican Party to abandon long-standing U.S. support for a Palestinian state, arguing it rewards the Oct. 7 violence. While Trump has hinted at potential changes in U.S. policy, neither he nor the party has explicitly stated their position on Palestinian statehood if they win the election.
Campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did not respond to questions about Trump’s views on settlements and the future for Palestinians. She noted that Israel had never had a better friend in the White House than Trump.
The United States endorsed the Oslo Accords 30 years ago, supporting the two-state solution. Palestinians and most countries, including the U.S., consider Israel’s West Bank settlements a violation of international law regarding occupied territory, blocking aspirations for statehood. On Friday, the top U.N. court ruled the settlements illegal. Israel dismissed the ruling as “fundamentally wrong.”
The Gaza war has revived pressure, including from U.S. President Joe Biden, for a negotiated Palestinian state neighboring Israel, which Palestinians envision comprising the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. Within Israel, two states remain the most popular route to peace, though support fell to 33% from 43% pre-Oct. 7, according to a May poll by Tel Aviv University.
Annexation of the West Bank and limiting rights for Palestinians, a favored option among some settlers, saw support rise to 32% from 27% pre-Oct. 7 and is viewed as an increasingly likely outcome.
Ohad Tal, a lawmaker with the hardline Religious Zionism party who resides in Gush Etzion, stated that settler leaders aiming to annex West Bank lands are increasingly seeking support from Trump and his evangelical allies. “It’s one of our main goals right now to strengthen connections with these groups,” Tal said. “We are fighting the same battle.”