A spokeswoman for the US State Department said that David Fridman's comments that "the settlements are part of Israel" are "not relevant to the negotiations that may take place."

"Cursor" reported yesterday that US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said in an interview with Walla that he considers the settlements to be part of Israel, but all the settlements can not be left to Israel. In addition, he said that Israel occupies only 2% of the West Bank, referring only to the territory occupied by the structures themselves in settlements without regard to roads and security zones, taking into account that Israel controls 40% -60% of the territories in the West Bank .

The US State Department said, as reported by Walla, that these statements have nothing to do with the outcome of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, which the US counts on. From responses to more specific questions about Friedman's interview, the State Department spokesman declined, saying only that experienced experts such as Gerad Kushner and Jason Grinblatt are working on solving the Middle East problem. Comment on the words of the Ambassador, she refused, referring to the fact that she had no opportunity to talk with him.

Later, the press secretary was asked about Friedman's statement that "the principle of two states lost its importance," when asked whether this was approved by Secretary of State Rex Tylerson, the spokeswoman replied: "The Secretary of State is now on the plane, I saw him this morning, but I did not talk to him about it. "