Beyond sending a message to Iran, hardened by its support for Russia, the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, has called on the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take measures that can reduce tensions and not “add gasoline.” The increasingly agitated circumstances on the ground and the political situation in Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) suggest that he will need more than words for his mission to succeed. For this reason, he has left some advisers in the area to continue in contact with the parties. “It can be done if they are prepared for it,” he says at the end of his visit.
If on Monday Blinken met with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, under great pressure both from the internal protests over his judicial reform proposal and from the latest Palestinian attacks, this Tuesday he met with the Palestinian President, Abu Mazen, each time less popular among his own and increasingly angry not only with Israel but also with the US. The Palestinian leadership does not hide its disappointment in considering that the Biden Administration did not do much to stop what it calls “dangerous Israeli escalation” or to resume negotiations, paralyzed in 2014, leading to the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. .
“It is important to take measures to de-escalate the situation. The Palestinians have a shrinking horizon of hope instead of expanding and this must change,” Blinken said in Ramallah where he announced an additional $50 million in aid to UNRWA. The diplomat reiterated his support for the two-state solution but since it is impossible today, his goal is to keep alive the possibility that one day it could be applied.
“We are opposed to any action that makes it difficult to achieve a two-state solution, including settlement expansion, house demolition and disruption of the status quo of the Holy Places,” added Blinken, who on the other hand is trying to get Abu Mazen to rectify his decision to leave. cease security cooperation with Israel that it announced last Thursday in response to the death of 10 Palestinians (eight militiamen and two civilians) by Israeli fire in armed clashes in a military incursion in the Jenin refugee camp.
“The Israeli government is responsible for the escalation, in the absence of international pressure,” denounced Abu Mazen, adding: “We are ready to return to dialogue to end the Israeli occupation of the territories.”
After calling for “the total cessation of unilateral Israeli actions that violate the signed agreements and international law,” Abu Mazen awaits US intervention to avoid measures announced by the Israeli government in response to the armed attack last Friday in which a Palestinian killed seven people near a synagogue. Measures such as a “reinforcement” of the colonies in the territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. Asked about it in Jerusalem, Blinken clarified that his country “always opposed the expansion of the colonies and the annexation of the West Bank.” .
Biden’s electoral victory in 2020 created great hope in the PNA, which in 2017 broke relations with the US in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Disappointment is multiplied today as Netanyahu has led the most right-wing government since Abu Mazen was elected president in 2005.
The widespread fear is an explosion of violence in April on the occasion of Ramadan that coincides once again with the Jewish Passover around the Esplanade of the Mosques or Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In this context and before receiving Blinken, Abu Mazen met this morning with the intelligence chief of Egypt, Abbas Kamal, and Jordan, Ahmed Husni. On Sunday it was the turn of the head of the CIA, William Burns.
Back in Jerusalem, Blinken once again condemned “the terrible attack” in this city at the press conference that summarized a visit that was also motivated to learn more about the pulse and direction of the new Netanyahu government when it barely exceeds the month of life. On the one hand, the US is concerned about the presence and influence of some ultranationalist ministers who, for example, demand an increase in construction in colonies and, on the other, the proposal for judicial reform. The voices of the protests of various groups have reached the White House and the more than 100,000 Israelis who demonstrate every Saturday against what they see as “weakening of the judicial system and democracy” have reached the White House.
Although in a very diplomatic and polite way, Blinken has asked Netanyahu that the reform be agreed upon with all the actors in the political and legal sphere and that it does not damage any democratic element. It is not usual for the US Secretary of State to refer publicly to an internal Israeli matter of this type. “Our 75-year relationship is based on common interests and values. Israel has a vibrant civil society and democracy,” he said Tuesday, combining praise for the country and elegant adverts to Netanyahu.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
