Israel: Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterates US line on Middle East

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint press conference on Monday, January 30, 2023 in Jerusalem.

AP - Ronaldo Schemidt

Text by: Sami Boukhelifa Follow

4 mins

The head of American diplomacy was in Jerusalem on Monday, January 30.

Antony Blinken calls on Israelis and Palestinians " 

 ".

His visit comes in a very degraded security context, after several days of deadly violence and victims on both sides.

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From our correspondent in Jerusalem,

It's a two-step visit: first talks with the Israelis, then with the Palestinians.

Antony Blinken has opened the dialogue and is now trying to extinguish the embers.

Head to head this Monday afternoon with the Prime Minister of the Hebrew State.

Then joint press conference.

The Washington envoy knows Benyamin Netanyahu well.

But it is his entourage that worries him.

►Read again: In the Middle East, Antony Blinken calls on Israelis and Palestinians not to “stir up tensions”

Binyamin Netanyahu has allied himself with the extreme right.

Jewish supremacists, racists and open annexationists have ruled Israel since the end of December.

“ 

 ,” they proclaim proudly.

Understand: there is no place for Palestine, all the land belongs to Israel.

So the US chief diplomat made a gentle reminder.

No question of offending his host.

Here are the principles to which the administration of Joe Biden is committed, says Antony Blinken:

• The two-state solution;

  an Israeli state and a Palestinian state.

• The historical

  status quo 

  around the Esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem;

  only Muslims can pray there.

• Palestinians and Israelis must be able to enjoy the same rights, in terms of freedom, security, justice and dignity.

On the situation in Israel

No reaction from the Israeli Prime Minister to these remarks.

The United States may well be Israel's greatest ally, its greatest military and diplomatic support, but the Jewish state rarely allows its conduct to be dictated to.

He acts on his own agenda.

Anyway, Antony Blinken knows it: he is not in a position to impose anything.

His main mission during this visit is to calm things down. Washington fears a total conflagration.

So, we have to discuss, negotiate.

The United States is also and above all seeking to renew the dialogue with Benyamin Netanyahu.

The Americans are also worried about the turn of events in Israel, on the political level.

What future for democracy and the rule of law in Israel?

Since coming to power, the far right has launched reforms in several sectors.

It attacks with hammer and chisel justice and the public media, in particular.

Benyamin Netanyahu's new allies want full political power.

Justice under supervision.

Magistrates at orders.

The government also wants to muzzle any dissonant voice, by removing public broadcasting.

In the Israeli press, some senior American officials are worried: “

 If this democracy were to collapse, what would be left?

No worries, reassures Benyamin Netanyahu during his joint press conference with Antony Blinken: " 

," he said.

Good to meet with Israeli Prime Minister @netanyahu today in Jerusalem.

We have an ironclad commitment to Israel's security and look forward to working with the Prime Minister in support of the interests and values ​​our nations have long shared.

pic.twitter.com/ZEB8kd4rTO

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 30, 2023

The inevitable Iranian file

The two men also spoke about regional security and the Iranian threat.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is the Israelis' nightmare.

It constitutes, for them, an existential threat.

The US administration has recognized it: the Iran nuclear deal is dead and buried.

The Israelis, supporters of the hard way, who did not believe in dialogue with the mullahs anyway, are trying to convince the United States to take action against Tehran.

The Jewish state dreams of forming a military coalition, with the major Western powers and its new allies in the Gulf, to attack Iran.

►Read also: Iran: an Israeli operation behind the drone attack in Isfahan?

According to diplomatic sources, Israel alone does not have the necessary armament, and in particular armor-piercing missiles to target Iranian underground nuclear installations.

So they need the American ally.

But for the moment, Washington rejects this scenario.

During this visit to Jerusalem, Antony Blinken obviously broached this subject with Israeli officials.

But the urgency of the moment is to put an end to the violence here, and try to get the Israeli-Palestinian conflict out of the impasse in which it finds itself.

Antony Blinken will meet Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, in Ramallah on Tuesday.

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• Israel

• United States

• Binyamin Netanyahu

• Joe Biden

• Palestinian territories

• Mahmoud Abbas