The US administration is restoring relations with the Palestinians after years of estrangement
The peace agreement is more difficult than ever
Abbas is trying to placate the Biden administration with local elections.
Father
More than two years after President Donald Trump effectively ended relations with the Palestinians, the Joe Biden administration will restore diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority.
This measure signals a return to a fairer and more traditional approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after the Trump administration's policy, which was heavily biased towards Israel.
The shift, which will include resuming US aid to the Palestinians, was announced recently in a speech by Acting US Ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Mills.
The latter also affirmed, once again, his support for the "two-state solution mutually agreed upon" between Israel and the Palestinians, in order for "Israel to live in peace and security, alongside a viable Palestinian state."
He called on the parties concerned to refrain from unilateral measures, such as annexation of land and settlement activity, by Israel, or incitement to violence by the Palestinians, which may make this outcome more difficult.
Low odds
Analysts and regional leaders say the prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal are weaker than they have been in decades.
All parties have stopped communication, and Palestinian leaders have rejected the White House peace plan last year.
And this issue is not among the new president's foreign policy priorities.
But the announcement is part of a broader return to previous US foreign policy practices, under Biden, and an end to the open hostility between Washington and the Palestinians, which the Trump administration has provoked.
At the direction of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Trump took an overtly punitive approach toward the Palestinians, with the aim of forcing them to make concessions to Israel, to no avail.
Palestinian leaders and supporters of a negotiated solution, between Israel and the Palestinians, quickly welcomed this policy shift.
Jeremy Ben-Ami, head of J Street, a liberal group that supports an Israeli settlement with the Palestinians, said: “This is exactly the kind of quick action that the administration needs to take, to restore American credibility as a diplomatic mediator between the Israelis and the Palestinians.” The terrible damage caused by the Trump administration begins with re-establishing a working relationship with the Palestinian leadership and people.
For his part, Mills said that the Biden administration "will take steps to reopen diplomatic missions that were closed by the last US administration," without providing details.
In addition to closing the Palestinian mission in Washington, in September 2018, the Trump administration also closed the US consulate in East Jerusalem.
Biden has no direct way to reopen the Palestinian mission in Washington.
A law passed by Congress in 1987 prevented Palestinians from opening an office for them in America.
Successive presidents have been able to bypass the legislation with an exemption, but subsequent laws passed in 2015 and 2018 limited the president's ability to circumvent previous restrictions.
Nonetheless, Palestinian officials greeted the announcement warmly, and saw the Biden administration’s tone as a welcome respite.
"For the first time, President Biden's administration officially expressed its position on the peace process and the two-state solution," said a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Social Development, Ahmed Majdalani.
In response to the announcement, the Palestinian official said: “We believe that this position constitutes an important positive step on the road to restoring bilateral US-Palestinian relations.
The door opens to restore the peace process, within the framework of multilateral international sponsorship.
Aid is good for everyone
Mills also said that Biden intends to "resume US aid programs that support economic development and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people." In 2018, the Trump administration cut $ 200 million in economic aid to the Palestinians and cut off about $ 350 million in annual funding, told the agency. Belonging to the United Nations helps Palestinian refugees.
In this context, Mills clarified, "We do not consider these steps to be a service to the Palestinian leadership," adding, "Aid benefits millions of ordinary Palestinians, and helps maintain a stable environment that benefits the Palestinians and the Israelis."
Trump has ended Washington's opposition to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, although he did not support what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said about annexing land.
As an alternative, the previous administration brokered diplomatic agreements between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors, in exchange for an assurance from Netanyahu that he would not seek annexation for the time being, even though he had not abandoned the idea.
The Israeli leader is now facing general elections for the fourth time in two years, after the Israeli coalition government failed to hold out.
In his statements to the United Nations Security Council, Mills said that the White House administration welcomes the recent treaties between Israel and Arab countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, but added that "Arab-Israeli normalization is not a substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace."
He stressed that "the United States will maintain its steadfast support for Israel," and "it will continue its long policy of opposing unilateral decisions and other measures in international bodies, which unfairly concern Israel."
While the Democratic Party has become more critical of Israeli policies in recent years, Biden's positions are more centrist, and he is less quick to criticize Israel, than other Democrats.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment.
And this month, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced a timetable for what would be the first Palestinian elections in at least 15 years, in a move that was partly seen as an attempt to win Biden’s support.
Richard Mills:
• “Aid benefits millions of ordinary Palestinians, and helps maintain a stable environment, which will benefit the Palestinians and Israelis.”
The Palestinian issue is not among the new president's foreign policy priorities. But the announcement is part of a broader return to previous US foreign policy practices, under Biden, and an end to the open hostility between Washington and the Palestinians, which the Trump administration has provoked.
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