Israeli settler leaders will attend Trump’s inauguration

Israeli settler leaders will attend US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington, a spokesperson for one of them said. 

The move is a

mark of solidarity

between the incoming administration and an ideological movement shunned by most Western governments over its claims on territory where Palestinians seek statehood.

The delegation was invited to the Jan 20 event by senior Republican Party officials, said Ms Esther Silam Alush, spokeswoman for the Samaria Council.

The settlers will also attend the launch of a newly created “Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus” in the US Congress. Judea and Samaria are biblical terms for the West Bank – land which the settler movement views as a Jewish birthright as well as a security bulwark for Israel. 

US policy has long been to oppose West Bank settlements as an obstacle to peace, but Trump took a softer tack during his first term in the White House. 

Trump has signalled further accommodation now by nominating Mr

Mike Huckabee

, a former Arkansas governor and prominent religious conservative with pro-settler ties, as US ambassador to Israel. BLOOMBERG