US officials have expressed concern that Israel’s next defence minister may be from the far-right extremist Religious Zionism party, the American news website Axios reported on Wednesday. Axios said the Biden administration was keeping a close eye on the issue, because of the power attached to the position. The Israeli defence minister is responsible not only for the Israeli military and its budget, but also for policy towards Palestinians in the West Bank, security ties with the Palestinian Authority, approval of new construction in illegal settlements, and handling settler attacks on Palesti…