Palin: Jewish settlements should expand

Nov 19, 2009, 1:32 GMT

Washington - Sarah Palin, the failed Republican vice presidential candidate in the headlines again with a new book, disagrees with the Obama administration's call for an end to Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.

'I believe the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead,' she told ABC News' doyen Barbara Walters in interview excerpts released Wednesday.

The former Alaska governor, who was a surprise pick of John McCain for his running mate, has been widely derided as being uninformed on major issues and unqualified for the presidency, having never served in national office.

The launch of the book, Going Rogue, which is already a bestseller based on advanced orders alone, has reignited many of the old debates about the Palin phenomenon.

Palin said she didn't think the Obama administration had 'any right' to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand.

The call for an end to settlements is a long-standing cornerstone of the international roadmap for peace in the Middle East, charted by the so-called quartet of the US, Russia, the United Nations and European Union.

Palin was governor of Alaska for two years before she resigned to write her book. During the presidential campaign, she said she had foreign policy credentials because she could see Russia from Alaska.

Thousands of Sarah Palin fans thronged to the opening of her book tour Wednesday in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Fuelled by a massive media blitz, the intense public reaction to the release of the book has stoked speculation that the folksy conservative politician could be planning a presidential election bid in 2012.