By dropping it, a description of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza .. Is the Biden administration close to Trump's positions towards the Palestinians?

Before the arrival of former US President Donald Trump to power in January 2017, the US State Department devoted a chapter to “Israel and the Occupied Territories,” and this title changed since 2018 to “Israel and the West Bank and Gaza,” which is the same phrase used in the report. The first to be published during the presidency of President Joe Biden on the state of human rights around the world.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was keen to include a paragraph in its report explaining that the words used to describe Israel and the Palestinian territories “do not reflect a position on any of the final status issues that will be negotiated by the parties to the conflict, especially the limits of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem or the boundaries between Israel and a future Palestinian state. "

This situation caused confusion among American observers who specialize in issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict, especially about whether the Biden administration was sending specific signals, or feeling the pulse of the parties towards these terms.

Are there indications for these formulations?

The use of the Report on the Status of Human Rights around the World - the first during the Biden administration - was the same name that appeared in the same report during the Trump era, referring to "Israel, the West Bank and Gaza" - a surprise, especially with the Biden administration announcing its adoption of the two-state solution that culminates in the existence of a Palestinian state On the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In addition to changing the title of the chapter, during the years of Trump's rule, the State Department dropped nearly every reference to the occupation from the annual reports for 2017, 2018, and 2019, except that the 2020 report also stated that it "covers the territories of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem that were occupied by Israel during the June / 1967 war. ".

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Charles Dunn, a former White House official and State Department researcher and a current researcher at the Middle East Institute, considered that "using the term" occupied territories "is a return to" the old normal, "although the report referred to Trump's policy of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, as well as Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. "

Dan added, "He does not believe that the language of the report reflects any new bias of the Israeli position, as much as it is an attempt to recognize the current diplomatic reality without causing major controversy."

Biden's policies are closer to Trump than to Obama

Observers considered that it is too early to judge Biden’s position on the issues of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and former US State Department ambassador David Mack said in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, “We have to wait before judging Biden’s positions towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

Ambassador Mack said, "My gut feeling is that the Biden administration's policy towards Israel and Palestine will not take its full form until after the formation of a new Israeli government, and after the Palestinian elections, while those who prepare annual human rights reports usually await directives from above."

In a sign that what was stated in the report was approved by senior Biden administration officials.

For his part, Director of the Palestinian-Israeli Affairs Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, Khaled Al-Jundi, said in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that "it is not clear what the message is related to using the words of the occupier and the occupation, but it is unlikely that this will be an omission, and it seems that the administration is trying to solve this dilemma." Using the terms occupied / occupied sometimes, and avoiding them wherever possible. "

He added, "What is clear is that we are not witnessing a complete rejection of Trump's approach towards Israel and Palestine, but there is an adjustment in Trump's policies on a case-by-case basis. If some expect Biden's policies to be closer to Obama's policies, then in fact Biden's approach is so far closer." To Trump's approach. "

The soldier confirmed that what happened so far from President Biden is consistent with "Biden's bias towards Israel, whether during his work in previous administrations, or through his own record in the Senate."