The US Ambassador to Jerusalem spoke last week with Bennett's advisers and clarified that the president wants to see a reduction in construction in settlements in the West Bank. A senior  Israeli official told Walla! "There is great sensitivity towards the Americans" and "therefore  no date has yet been set for the convening of the committee that approves planning and construction in the settlements." 

The Biden administration last week sent a quiet message to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office requesting that new construction be curbed in settlements in the West Bank, senior Israeli officials said. The issue of settlements has the potential to become a center of tension between Israel and the United States, but both the White House and the Prime Minister's Office want to avoid this and try to reach understandings through quiet channels. Israeli officials said Deputy US Ambassador to Jerusalem Michael Ratney called senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office last week and said the Biden administration would like to see restraint or reduction in new planning and construction in the settlements. Ratney also raised in the conversation the American concerns about a possible future construction in the sensitive area E1 between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim, where construction will separate the northern West Bank and the south and make it difficult to establish a Palestinian state with territorial continuity.

A senior U.S. administration official has said that since the meeting between President Biden and Prime Minister Bennett in late August in Washington, the administration has been in weekly contact with the Israeli government on the issue of settlements.

Prior to Bennett's trip to Washington, the Civil Administration's Supreme Planning Council was scheduled to convene to approve the promotion of planning and construction of about 2,000 housing units in the settlements and another 800 housing units for Palestinians in Area C in the West Bank.

Bennett wanted the committee to make a decision on the matter even before his meeting with Biden and believed that in this way the chances of tension and crisis were smaller. However, a strike declared by Civil Administration employees meant that the planning council did not convene and the planning and construction approval in the settlements was postponed after the meeting with Biden. During the meeting with Bennett, the American president raised the issue of settlements in the face-to-face conversation and said that he expects Israel to exercise restraint when it comes to approving new construction in the settlements. Israeli officials said Bennett had told Biden that Israel would continue to build in the settlements only in accordance with the needs of "natural growth." When Bennett returned from Washington he met with some of the settler leaders. According to a report on the Z'man Yisrael (Times of  Israel)  website, Bennett told the settlers' leaders that he said "no" to Biden on his request regarding the settlements.

This report was one of the reasons why the US administration felt the need to sharpen the message on the issue of settlements and send Ratney to pass it on to Bennett's advisers. In the six weeks since Bennett returned from Washington, no date has been set for the convening of the Civil Administration's Supreme Planning Council to approve the promotion of settlement plans in the settlements. A senior Israeli official said that "there is a great deal of sensitivity at the moment with the Americans when it comes to settlements. That is why the promotion of new construction is delayed." 

A spokesman for the United States Embassy in Jerusalem declined to comment on diplomatic talks with the Israeli government. However, a spokesman for the US embassy said that "the Biden administration believes that both sides should avoid unilateral measures that would increase tensions and undermine efforts to promote a two-state solution - this includes construction in the settlements." The Prime Minister's Office also refused to comment. The Biden administration is trying to balance its stance against settlement construction and its desire to preserve the prospect of a two-state solution in the future with the president's unwillingness to re - enter into a public confrontation with Israel over the settlement issue. In addition, the White House knows that tensions with Israel over settlements will expose Bennett to attacks from the right, which could hurt government stability - something the Americans want to avoid as well.