White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Friday declined to rebut reports that the Obama administration was considering sanctioning Israel over the settlements issue.
"I am not going to talk about any sort of internal deliberations inside the administration and certainly not inside the White House," Earnest said during a briefing, when asked about the reports.
The Obama administration has been "crystal clear about our view of settlement activity," Earnest said. "That view has not changed. We believe that settlements are illegitimate, and we have deep concerns about highly contentious planning and construction activities that the Israeli government is pursuing in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. We believe that those kinds of activities are counterproductive. We have made those views clear in public. We have made those views clear in private." Earnest noted that Israel is "a close and strategic partner of the United States of America ... ." Told that he was clearly not denying that sanctions were on the table against Israel, Earnest said, "I am very clearly not denying that we have strong concerns about settlement activity that is under way in Israel. But it has not and will not affect the United States' strong commitment to the national security of the nation of Israel."