He believes this is where the long-sought deal can finally be agreed two state solution Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be a priority.
“There is no return to the status quo of October 6,” Biden told reporters, referring to the day before Hamas militants attacked Israel and sparked the latest war. The White House said Biden conveyed the same message directly to Netanyahu in a phone call last week.
“It also means that when this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what’s next, and we believe that has to be a two-state solution,” Biden said.
For decades, U.S. presidents and Middle Eastern diplomats have failed to promote a two-state solution — in which Israel coexists with an independent Palestinian state. The plan has been on hold since the last U.S.-led peace talks collapsed in 2014 over disagreements over Israeli settlements, the release of Palestinian prisoners and other issues.
Palestinian statehood is Biden’s decision Rarely involved in the early stages his government.Biden said during a visit to the West Bank last year “The soil is not yet mature” While he reiterated to the Palestinians America’s longstanding support for statehood, he remained committed to a lasting peace.
Now, amid heightened concerns that Israel’s war with Hamas could turn into a broader regional conflict, Biden has begun stressing that efforts to establish a Palestinian state should no longer be ignored once the bombings and shootings stop.
Until recently, Biden had put more emphasis on the ambitions his administration believed were achievable. Israel normalizes relations with its Arab neighbors rather than restarting peace talks.
Even a lengthy essay describing Biden’s global foreign policy efforts written shortly before the Oct. 7 attacks by his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, made no mention of Palestinian statehood.in a Updated version of Diplomacy article Sullivan wrote in an online post that the government was “committed to a two-state solution.” White House officials also said normalization talks have always included important proposals that benefit the Palestinians.
Biden’s postwar vision is not without its obstacles. Israel’s far-right government believes that establishing an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza is impossible. The incompetent Palestinian Authority controls the West Bank and has little credibility among the people it governs. At the same time, the upcoming US presidential election may make Biden a less than ideal mediator in 2024.
Aaron David Miller, who has served as a Middle East adviser to both Democratic and Republican administrations, said Biden’s recent emphasis on a two-state solution was a “coveted topic.”
“The likelihood is very, very low,” he said. “It’s basically mission impossible.”
Calling for a two-state solution at a Republican Jewish Coalition summit in Las Vegas on Saturday, Republican presidential candidates criticized Biden’s Israel policies and what they see as the Democratic Party’s failure to adequately condemn anti-Semitism across the United States. Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur who is expected to become president, said Israel should give up “the myth of the two-state solution”.
A White House official who was not authorized to discuss internal deliberations publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity said the White House realizes Biden’s proposed two-state solution is ambitious and may not be achievable in the short term.There is also an awareness that Netanyahu’s government faces strong public opposition failed to prevent The attacks on Hamas focused on its actions and did not take much account of Biden’s remarks about Palestinian statehood.
Still, Biden believed it was important for him and his team to convey “hope” and make clear his administration’s support for a Palestinian state, the official said.
Dennis Ross, a peace process negotiator in the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations, said that while there is no end in sight to the current conflict, it is important to start preparing for future plans.
“You can’t go back to ignoring the Palestinian issue,” Ross said. “It’s not hopeless. When you go beyond that, it’s not hopeless anymore.”
Palestinian-American groups, Muslim advocacy groups and organizations renewed calls for Palestinian statehood. Some fellow Democrats expressed dismay As the Palestinian death toll continues to increase and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens, Biden continues to fully express his support for Israel.
“This has nothing to do with someone’s beliefs,” said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “It’s about finding a more cooperative, more stable, more secure future for the Middle East, more integrating Israel into the region, and we’re not going to give up on that.”
Biden expressed concern about the deteriorating situation of innocent civilians in Gaza. But his insistence that he will not dictate how Israeli forces conduct operations could complicate his ability to maintain credibility as an impartial intermediary. American Muslim leaders urged the president to call for a ceasefire in a private meeting with Biden and top aides at the White House last week.
Attendees also told Biden that his silence on Israel’s collective punishment of innocent Gaza civilians has weakened his standing among Arab Americans and Muslims, including in states that could have a major impact on the 2024 election. status.
They were also concerned that Biden expressed “no confidence” in Gaza’s death toll because the figure was tallied by the Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry said more than 8,000 people have been killed in Gaza, mostly women and minors. More than 1,400 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial Hamas attacks.
Conference attendee Rami Nashashbi, founder of Chicago’s Inner City Muslim Action Network, said he told Biden his comments about the death toll in Gaza were “dehumanizing.” Nashashby added that he and other participants told the president that his comments were particularly troubling because Biden has shown deep empathy for suffering people throughout his term.
“I raised the issue with him very directly and others in the room did so in a way that I felt was heard and acknowledged,” Nashashby said.
Biden is likely to view the renewed push for statehood as a sign of his commitment to Palestinian sovereignty. But his handling of turmoil in the Middle East is already threatening to drag down his prospects for reelection in 2024, and any progress Biden can make on a two-state solution may require reelection.
Some Democratic officials worry his handling of the war could weaken Biden and the party’s standing among Arab-American voters and younger voters, who polls show are more sympathetic to the Palestinian issue than older and centrist voters in the party.
A senior Michigan Democratic official said Biden’s handling of the war has become a “huge” problem in the state and could become more vexing if the war drags on and the death toll in Gaza continues to rise . The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive party issue.
Even before the war, Biden was expected to face a tight race in the state in 2024. In 2020, he won Michigan by less than 3 percentage points; in 2016, Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the state by 0.3 percentage points. Clinton). More than 300,000 people People of Middle Eastern or North African descent live in Michigan.
“Even if he’s hurt by a few points, his race is very close,” said Bernie Porn, a longtime Michigan pollster.
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Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
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