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Source: http://www.cfr.org/israel/us-position-regarding-legality-israeli-settlements/p31730
What Is the U.S. Position Regarding the Legality of Israeli Settlements?
(Council on Foreign Relations) Elliott Abrams - The U.S. position has fluctuated over time. In the Reagan years, the United States said the settlements were "not illegal." The Clinton and George H.W. Bush administrations avoided the legal arguments but criticized the settlements frequently. President George W. Bush called the larger settlement blocs "new realities on the ground" that would have to be reflected in peace negotiations. More recently, the official U.S. attitude has been more critical. U.S. officials have tried to avoid an argument over the legal status of the settlements. The use of the term "illegitimate" rather than "illegal" suggests a desire to express disapproval as a political judgment without getting bogged down in arguments over the international legal status of the territories and Israel's actions in them. The writer is Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the CFR.