Get ready for a lot of mixed messages between Washington and Jerusalem.

The Trump administration is, without doubt, the least orderly in living memory and there is still no established hierarchy on foreign policy - certainly not when it comes to the Israel-Palestine issue. No-one yet has any idea where the decisions will be made.

Will it be the State Department, where Secretary Rex Tillerson has only just arrived and has yet to appoint a team of senior diplomats? Will it be the National Security Council, where some of the President Trump's senior advisers, like Steve Bannon, are expected to hold sway over the military and intelligence professionals? Could it be son-in-law Jared Kushner and the newly appointed ambassador and family attorney David Friedman?

One immediate result of this lack of cohesion is that every Israeli who has so far been in contact with the administration has come away with whatever message they wanted to hear. The settler leaders who are close to Ambassador Friedman have been given the impression that the United States will accept an unfettered settlement drive and even annexation of parts of the West Bank.

Officially, Press Secretary Sean Spicer has not provided any comment on the recent Israeli decisions to build around 6,000 new homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. And on Thursday came the first indication that at least someone in the administration realises Israel should hold back on new settlements if the president is to make good on his promise to deliver the two-state solution - the same pledge made by just about every American president in the last 50 years.

It may sound counter-intuitive, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is actually quite happy with the administration putting their foot on the brakes when it comes to settlements.

He is eager for a harder stance on Iran, which so far he seems to be getting, and prefers for the White House to help him restrain the more right-wing elements of his own coalition. As far as Mr Netanyahu is concerned, Iran is always the main priority, while the settlements are a diversion. A bit of counter-pressure from Washington, pushing back the likes of Naftali Bennett - who is agitating to annex Ma'ale Adumim - would be welcomed, silently, by the Israeli Prime Minister.