The Trump administration is shaping its policy toward Israel and a potential peace settlement with the Palestinians in ways that may seem surprising for a president who had appeared to offer the government in Jerusalem a blank check on the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and other issues.”

Trump’s evolving settlement policy appears more lenient toward Israel than the Obama administration’s, but not as lenient as sought by many of Israel’s strongest backers. There may be more continuity with past policy on Israel and on Iran than many foreign policy analysts had expected.