As Obama Tries to Shift the Debate, Will Democrats Continue to Endorse Israel’s Colonization of the West Bank admin, June 6, 2009February 2, 2025 ALTERNET June 6, 2009 President Barack Obama has inherited a difficult challenge in pushing Israel to end the expansion of its illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. With the right-wing Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu categorically rejecting the idea of a freeze and with Democratic-controlled Congress ruling out using the billions of dollars of U.S. military aid to Israel as leverage, the situation remains deadlocked. [source is expired] Alternet Democratic Party Foreign Policy Israel and Palestine Israel-Palestinian conflict Obama Foreign Policy