The Biden administration today set out its policies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and underlined its intention to renew ties with the Palestinian Authority.
Why it’s important: The Trump administration drastically changed U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. President Biden’s policies, set out for the first time today, will bring the U.S. back to the more traditional positions of previous Democratic and Republican administrations.
Leading the news: The policy was unveiled by U.S. Ambassador-in-Office to the United Nations Richard Mills during a monthly meeting on the Middle East at the UN Security Council.
- Mills said the Biden administration will support a two-state solution, which he considers “the best way to ensure that Israel remains in a democratic, Jewish state.”
- He added that the new administration will base its policies on consultations with both parties; by contrast, the Trump administration barely spoke to the Palestinians for three years.
- Citing the large gaps between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Mills said the administration believes its goal should be to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution in the future, while focusing on improving the situation. on the ground, mainly in Gaza.
Mills said Biden would encourage Israel and the Palestinians to avoid unilateral steps that would make it difficult to access a two-state solution, such as annexation, settlement construction, demolition of Palestinian housing by Israel, and payments to Palestinian terrorists.
- He said the Biden administration would renew ties with the Palestinian Authority, which boycotted the Trump administration after moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
- Mills added that the U.S. would renew economic and humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and reopen diplomatic missions that were closed by the Trump administration, such as the PLO office in Washington and the U.S. consulate general in Jerusalem.
- He added that the Biden administration would oppose unilateral or biased resolutions that singularize Israel in international forums.
What follows: Mills said Biden is celebrating 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 new standardization agreements so as to strengthen the momentum of a two-state solution.