JERUSALEM — President Biden mentioned on Friday that now was not the time to restart peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, however insisted that he remained dedicated to a two-state answer to their battle and expressed hope that the diplomatic agreements sealed in 2020 between Israel and 4 Arab states may give new impetus to the peace course of.
“Even when the bottom is just not ripe at this second to restart negotiations, america and my administration is not going to quit on making an attempt to deliver the Palestinians and Israelis and either side nearer collectively,” Mr. Biden mentioned.
“At this second, when Israel is enhancing relations with its neighbors all through the area, we are able to harness that very same momentum to reinvigorate the peace course of between the Palestinian folks and the Israelis,” Mr. Biden added, referring to a set of agreements often known as the Abraham Accords, which have been negotiated beneath the Trump administration.
mr. Biden made the feedback at a information convention after assembly with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, at a dark time for Palestinians. The assembly happened in Bethlehem as a substitute of Ramallah, the authority’s administrative hub, to allow Mr. Biden to briefly go to the Church of the Nativity, the fourth-century basilica that stands on a website the place custom holds that Jesus was born.
His remarks adopted a name by Mr. Abbas for Mr. Biden to assist “put together the environment for a political horizon for a simply, complete, sturdy peace.”
“Is not it time for this occupation to finish?” mr. Abbas mentioned on the information convention. “The important thing to peace and safety in our area begins with recognizing the state of Palestine,” he added, regardless of Saudi Arabia — essentially the most highly effective Arab nation — starting incremental steps on Friday to normalize relations with Israel for the primary time.
“The chance for the two-state answer alongside the 1967 borders could solely be accessible right now,” the Palestinian chief mentioned. “However we do not know what is going to occur later.”
After an exuberant reception in Israel, it was a tense morning for Mr. Biden, who was met with protests by Palestinians in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, hours earlier than a scheduled flight to what may very well be much more fraught encounters in Saudi Arabia.
In Bethlehem, Mr. Biden mentioned that his dedication to the objective of a two-state answer had not modified, saying, “Two states alongside 1967 traces with mutually agreed land swaps stays the easiest way to attain equal measures of safety, prosperity, freedom and democracy for the Palestinians. in addition to Israelis.”
mr. Abbas additionally pushed Mr. Biden to take away the Palestine Liberation Group from the US terrorism listing and reopen the US consulate to the Palestinians in Jerusalem and the PLO mission in Washington, each of which have been closed beneath President Donald J. Trump.
The Palestinian management is split between the Palestinian Authority, which administers elements of the West Financial institution, and Hamas, the Islamist militant group that wrested management of Gaza from the authority in 2007. Most Palestinians see little hope of reconciliation, latest ballot exhibits.
In Gaza, a blockade enforced by Israel and Egypt is in its fifteenth yr. One in 4 Palestinians was unemployed in 2021. Seven in 10 say they imagine {that a} Palestinian state is now not possible due to the growth of Israeli settlements within the West Financial institution, in keeping with a June ballot. Almost 80 % need the resignation of Mr. Abbas, the authority’s president, who final confronted an election in 2005, and the overwhelming majority see each the authority and Hamas as corrupt.
Towards this backdrop, many Palestinians are annoyed with the Biden administration, with 65 % opposing dialogue between their management and america. Whereas the Biden administration has typically known as for a two-state answer to the Palestinian battle — and Mr. Biden repeated that decision on Thursday — the notion amongst analysts is that he has not matched his phrases with actions.
On the eve of Mr. Biden’s go to, the White Home introduced a number of monetary measures meant to enhance Palestinian life however stopped wanting a political course of to create a Palestinian state and left a number of Trump-era measures in place.
In his remarks on Friday, Mr. Biden additionally known as on the Palestinian Authority to do extra to scrub its personal home.
“The Palestinian Authority has vital work to do as effectively, in the event you do not thoughts my saying,” Mr. Biden mentioned. “Now’s the time to strengthen Palestinian establishments to enhance governance, transparency and accountability. Now’s the time to unleash the unbelievable potential of the Palestinian folks via higher engagement and civic society to fight corruption, advance rights and freedoms, and enhance neighborhood providers.”