“Blinken talks to Palestinian Authority President Abbas and the message will be the same: no fuel to the fire, de-escalation.” Blinken originally wanted to discuss completely different issues, but the wave of violence plaguing Israel and the Palestinian territories now determines his agenda. Postma: ‘Actions in the West Bank, rockets from Gaza, a Palestinian stabbing Israelis, an airstrike from Israel and a drone strike on Iran that Israel is probably behind. Blinken must put out the fires immediately.”
Hard sell
“It is everyone’s responsibility to take steps to defuse tensions rather than inflate them,” Blinken said yesterday. Today he is in Ramallah in the West Bank to speak with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Blinken is in Israel and the Palestinian territories for what in America is called a “hard sell”: amid all the escalation, he must talk about the two-state solution that he sees as the only chance for peace.
But those talks have been at a standstill since 2014, and neither side seems inclined to lend a hand. “Abbas is critical of Netanyahu and emphasizes Israel’s retaliation and arming of Israeli citizens.” And little should be expected from Israel’s far-right government: Blinken announced last weekend that it will issue more gun permits to civilians after a shooting in east Jerusalem in which a Palestinian killed seven as they walked out of a synagogue.
Long term
‘Blinken wants to look long term. It was already difficult, but now it has become impossible.’ Also because – unlike the Trump administration – the Biden administration and Netanyahu’s far-right coalition are diametrically opposed on crucial issues. For example, Biden wants to smooth out the nuclear deal with Iran and get it through, but Israel doesn’t like it. Biden has also asked Israel to provide Ukraine with anti-aircraft defenses, but Netanyahu has refused to do so, although the equipment is very outdated and in storage.