JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli security forces have demolished an illegal West Bank building that settlers had named after President Barack Obama in a symbolic show of defiance.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says security forces tore down the wooden bunker known as “Obama’s Shack,” north of Jerusalem, on Tuesday.
He says the structure violated a 10-month freeze on new construction in West Bank settlements.
Israel announced the freeze last November under pressure from Obama, who opposes settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — lands that the Palestinians claim for a future state.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the order doesn’t include east Jerusalem. But this week, municipal officials said that area is also under an unofficial freeze.
