The U.S. embassy in Jerusalem said it will begin offering routine passport consular services to American citizens at the West Bank settlement of Efrat starting Friday, a shift that brings the embassy’s outreach into an Israeli settlement for the first time, according to a statement posted to the embassy’s X account. The embassy said consular officers will provide the passport services in Efrat on Friday.
The embassy also said it plans similar outreach in the coming months at the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit. In describing the initiative, it said the services are part of its “efforts to reach all Americans.”
The embassy has previously provided consular services in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities in the West Bank, the statement said. The planned settlement outreach marks a change in where Americans can access certain consular services, moving beyond Palestinian cities where the embassy has operated.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the decision, saying on X, “We welcome the historic decision by the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem to extend consular services to American citizens in Judea and Samaria.” The ministry’s statement presented the step as a notable extension of U.S. consular access for Americans located in the settlements.
Palestinian officials had no immediate comment, according to the report.
The move comes amid a broader change in U.S. policy that has been described as more friendly to Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank than the approach of past administrations. The West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by Palestinians for a future state, remain among the central issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
More than 3.4 million Palestinians and about 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to the report. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.
Settlement expansion and the conditions on the ground remain disputed, with Palestinians saying expanding construction hems them in and makes it nearly impossible to establish a viable independent state. The report also said settler violence and Israeli army raids have increased in the West Bank since the war in Gaza began in October 2023.
As the embassy begins the Efrat service and prepares for the Beitar Illit outreach, the planned consular access in settlements is likely to remain a politically sensitive signal for both Israelis and Palestinians, and for how the U.S. manages its diplomatic footprint in the West Bank.