WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden government is moving slowly but surely towards re-engagement with the Palestinians, after an almost total absence of official contact during the four years of former President Donald Trump in office.
While American officials are planning measures to restore direct ties to the Palestinian leadership, Biden’s national security team is taking steps to restore relations that were broken while Trump pursued a Middle East policy focused primarily on Israel, the most important partner. close to America in the region.
On Tuesday, for the second time in two days, the Biden government categorically adopted a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, something about which Trump had purposely been vague while cutting aid to the Palestinians and taking steps to support the Israel’s claims to land that Palestinians want an independent state.
The State Department said on Tuesday that a US delegation attended a meeting of a committee run by Norwegians that serves as a clearinghouse to assist Palestinians. Although little known outside of foreign policy circles, the so-called Ad Hoc Liaison Committee has been influential in the peace process since Israel and the Palestinians signed the Oslo Accords in 1993.
“During the discussion, the United States reaffirmed the US commitment to advancing prosperity, security and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians and preserving the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state, ”said the State Department in a statement.
“The United States emphasized the commitment to support economic and humanitarian assistance and the need to see progress on pending projects that will improve the lives of the Palestinian people, while urging all parties to avoid unilateral measures that make it a two-way solution. States more difficult to reach, ”he said.
The US participation in the meeting followed a liaison on Monday between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Israeli Foreign Minister, in which Blinken emphasized that the new US administration unequivocally supports a two-state solution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is close to Trump, avoided the two-state solution.
Biden spoke to Netanyahu last week for the first time as president, after a delay that many considered suspicious and suggestive of a major realignment in US politics. Blinken, however, spoke twice with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, amid ongoing concerns in Israel over Biden’s intentions in the region, particularly his desire to re-enter the nuclear deal with Iran.
On Monday’s call, Blinken “emphasized the Biden government’s belief that a two-state solution is the best way to guarantee Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state, living in peace alongside a viable Palestinian state. democratic, “said State Department spokesman Ned Price. .
The Trump administration presented its own version of a two-state peace plan, although it had required significant Palestinian concessions in territory and sovereignty.
The Palestinians, however, immediately rejected and accused the United States of being no longer an honest peace mediator after Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the city, cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority , closed the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington and rescinded a long-standing legal opinion that Israeli settlement activity is illegitimate under international law,