“The American desire for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians has remained unchanged for 50 years. While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal,” said White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer in a statement which represents the clearest indication yet over the new Trump administration over its position on Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).

The unexpected statement also emphasised that “the Trump administration has not taken an official position on settlement activity” and that “as the President has expressed many times, he hopes to achieve peace throughout the Middle East region”.

The statement added that Trump “looks forward to continuing discussions” with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to the White House scheduled for next week.

Netanyahu spoke with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. A statement from the State Department said that Tillerson “stressed America’s steadfast commitment to its key allies and partners as it works to protect the interests and safety of the American people”. It is not clear whether the discussion included the White House statement on settlements or not.

During Congressional confirmation hearings, Tillerson made clear his opposition to to attempts to “coerce” Israel through resolutions at the UN which are biased towards settlement building. Tillerson also described his predecessor John Kerry’s sharp criticism of Israeli settlement policy during his final days in office as “quite troubling”.

On other foreign policy topics, the new administration declared that the United States would not lift sanctions against Russia until it stopped destabilizing Ukraine and pulled troops out of Crimea and on Iran, the administration is preparing economic sanctions similar to those the Obama administration imposed just over a year ago.

According to The New York Times, new administrations often fail to change the foreign policies of their predecessors as radically as they promised ‘’in large part because statecraft is so different from campaigning.’’ ‘’And of course, today’s positions could shift over time,’’ the paper writes.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon was the first Israeli official to respond to the White House's statement. Speaking to Israel Radio, he said that it was still too early to tell how the White House's latest remarks will affect the construction of settlements. “I would not categorize this as a U-turn by the U.S. administration but the issue is clearly on their agenda ... the issue will be discussed when the Prime Minister meets the President in Washington.” He added,“We will not always agree on everything.”

Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said: "The current Israeli government has chosen to exercise the right of the Jewish people to build in all parts of the country, and we are committed to respect the wishes of the people of Israel, who elected us to continue to build."

She also said, "The White House also knows that settlements are not an obstacle to peace, and indeed, never constituted an obstacle to peace. Therefore, the obvious conclusion is that construction is not the problem.”

While the statement did not condemn settlement activity, it clearly serves as a warning for Israel to stop more construction of new housing units until Trump figures out what he wants his policy to be.