The Biden administration today outlined its policy for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and emphasized its intention to renew ties with the Palestinian Authority.
Why it matters: The Trump administration has drastically changed US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. President Biden’s policies, first outlined today, will push the US back to the more traditional positions of previous Democratic and Republican governments.
Driving the news: The policy was presented by the acting US Ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Mills, at a monthly meeting on the Middle East in the UN Security Council.
- Mills said the Biden administration will support a two-state solution, which it sees as “the best way to ensure that Israel remains a democratic and Jewish state.”
- He added that the new administration will base its policies on consultation with both sides – the Trump administration, on the other hand, barely spoke to the Palestinians for three years.
- Citing the wide disparities between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Mills said the government believes the goal should be to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution going forward while focusing on improving the situation in the future. location, mainly in Gaza.
Mills said Biden would encourage Israel and the Palestinians to avoid unilateral steps that will make a two-state solution more difficult – such as annexation, settlement building, Israel’s demolition of Palestinian houses, and Palestinian terrorist payments.
- He said the Biden administration would renew ties with the Palestinian Authority, which the Trump administration boycotted after moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
- Mills added that the US would renew economic and humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and reopen diplomatic missions closed by the Trump administration, such as the PLO office in Washington and the US Consulate General in Jerusalem.
- He added that the Biden administration would oppose unilateral or biased resolutions distinguishing Israel in international forums.
What’s next: Mills said Biden welcomes the normalization agreements between Israel and Arab countries, but does not see them as a substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace. He added that Biden would like to promote further standardization deals in a way that would reinforce the push for a two-state solution.