UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The administration of US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that it was reestablishing relations with the Palestinians and renewing aid to Palestinian refugees, a reversal of the Trump administration’s closure and a key element of its new support for a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Acting U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills made the announcement of Biden’s approach to a high-level virtual meeting of the Security Council, saying the new U.S. administration believes this “ remains the best way to ensure Israel’s future as a democratic and Jewish state. while upholding the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians. for statehood and to live with dignity and safety. “
President Donald Trump’s administration has provided unprecedented support for Israel by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moving the U.S. Embassy out of Tel Aviv, cutting financial aid for the Palestinians, and the illegality of Israeli settlements on land designated by the Palestinians have been claimed to bend.
Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 war. The international community views both territories as occupied territory, and the Palestinians are seeking them as parts of a future independent state. Israel has built a widespread settlement network of nearly 700,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Jerusalem since their capture in 1967.
The peace plan unveiled by Trump a year ago envisions a disjointed Palestinian state handing over important parts of the West Bank to Israel and siding with Israel on major controversial issues, including borders and the status of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements . It was vehemently rejected by the Palestinians.
Mills made clear the Biden administration’s more balanced approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Under the new administration, the policy of the United States will be to support a mutually agreed two-state solution, one in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state,” he said.
Mills said peace cannot be imposed on either side and stressed that progress and an ultimate solution require the participation and consent of Israelis and Palestinians.
“To achieve these goals, the Biden administration will restore credible US involvement with both Palestinians and Israelis,” he said.
“This will involve renewing US relations with the Palestinian leaders and the Palestinian people,” Mills said.
“President Biden has made it clear that he intends to restore US aid programs that support economic development programs and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, and to take steps to reopen diplomatic relations that were closed by the last US administration.” Mills said.
Trump cut funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA, which was created to help the 700,000 Palestinians who had fled or forced to leave their homes during the war surrounding Israel’s founding in 1948. It provides education, health care , food and other aid to about 5.5 million refugees and their descendants in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The US was UNRWA’s main donor and the loss of funds has caused a financial crisis for the agency.
The Trump administration closed the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Washington office in September 2018, effectively closing the Palestinians’ diplomatic mission to the United States.
Mills said the United States hopes to start slowly building trust on both sides to create an environment for a two-state solution.
To pursue this goal, Mills said, “ the United States will urge the Israeli government and the Palestinians to avoid unilateral steps that make a two-state solution more difficult, such as annexation of territory, settlements, demolition, incitement to violence, and compensation for persons in prison for terrorist attacks. “
Israel has accused the Palestinians of inciting violence and strongly objected to the Palestinian Authority paying the families of those imprisoned for attacking or killing Israelis.
Mills stressed that “the US will maintain its steadfast support for Israel” – opposing unilateral resolutions and other actions in international bodies that falsely select Israel and promote Israel’s status and participation in the UN and other international organizations.
The Biden administration welcomes the recent normalization of relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations and will urge other countries to forge ties, Mills said.
“Yet we recognize that Arab-Israeli normalization is no substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace,” he said.
Mills stressed that the fraught state of Israeli-Palestinian politics, and the fact that trust between the two sides “is at rock bottom” do not relieve UN member states of the responsibility of trying to preserve the viability of a two-state state. solution.”
Before Mills spoke, Palestinian Secretary of State Riad Malki sharply criticized the Trump administration for using “the power and influence of the United States to support Israel’s illegitimate attempts to entrench its occupation and control” and he reiterated Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s hopes “of resuming relations. and positive engagement.”
“Now is the time to heal and repair the damage left by the previous US administration,” he said. “We look forward to reversing the Trump administration’s illegal and hostile measures and working together for peace.”
Malki called for a revival of the Quartet of Mediators in the Middle East – the US, the UN, the European Union and Russia – and reiterated Abbas’ call for an international peace conference “that could mark a turning point in this conflict.” He also expressed the hope that “the US will play an important role in multilateral efforts for peace in the Middle East.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow is convinced that the Quartet, in close cooperation with both sides and the Arab states, “can play a very, very effective role”.
In support of Abbas’s call for an international conference, Lavrov suggested holding a ministerial meeting this spring or summer with the Quartet and Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to analyze the current situation and to help “launch a dialogue” between Israelis and Palestinians.
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that “the Palestinians suffered under unprecedented pressure from the former US administration,” and said the 22 members of the organization look forward to Biden correcting Trump’s actions and cooperating with international and regional parties to relaunch “a serious peace process”.
But Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan told the council that instead of focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it should focus on Iran, which “is not trying to hide its intention to destroy the world’s only Jewish state” .
On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he suggested that the council discuss what it calls “the real obstacles to peace: Palestinian incitement and culture of hatred.”
Israel remains willing to make peace “if there is a willing partner,” Erdan said, accusing Abbas of inciting violence, saying he should come to the negotiating table “without making outrageous demands and not calling for even more. a pointless international conference … (which) is just a distraction. “