President Biden with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank on Friday. Credit… Doug Mills/New York Times
JERUSALEM — President Biden said Friday that now is not the time to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, but insisted he remains committed to a two-state solution to their conflict and expressed hope that diplomatic agreements reached in 2020 between Israel and four Arab countries could give a new impetus to the peace process.
“Even if the ground is not ripe at this point for restarting negotiations, the United States and my administration will not give up trying to bring the Palestinians and the Israelis closer together,” Mr. Biden said.
“At a time when Israel is improving relations with its neighbors throughout the region, we can use the same momentum to restart the peace process between the Palestinian people and the Israelis,” Mr. Biden added, referring to a set of agreements known as the Accords of Abraham that were negotiated under the Trump administration.
Mr Biden made the comments at a news conference after meeting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at a dark time for Palestinians. The meeting was held in Bethlehem instead of Ramallah, the authorities’ administrative center, so that Mr. Biden could briefly visit the Church of the Nativity, the fourth-century basilica that stands on the site where Jesus is traditionally said to have been born.
His remarks followed Mr Abbas’ call for Mr Biden to help “set the stage for a political horizon for a just, comprehensive, lasting peace”.
“Isn’t it time for this occupation to end?” Mr Abbas said at the news conference. “The key to peace and security in our region begins with recognizing the state of Palestine,” he added, even as Saudi Arabia – the most powerful Arab country – began gradual steps on Friday to normalize relations with Israel for the first time.
“The possibility of a two-state solution along the 1967 borders may only be available today,” the Palestinian leader said. “But we don’t know what will happen later.”
After a lavish welcome in Israel, it was a more tense morning for Mr Biden, who was met with protests by Palestinians in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, hours before his scheduled flight to what could be even more tense clashes in Saudi Arabia.
In Bethlehem, Mr Biden said his commitment to the goal of a two-state solution had not changed, saying: “Two states along the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps remain the best way to achieve equal measures of security, prosperity, freedom and democracy for Palestinians as well as Israelis.
Mr Abbas also urged Mr Biden to remove the Palestine Liberation Organization from the US terrorist list and reopen the US consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem and the PLO mission in Washington, which were closed under President Donald J. Trump.
The Palestinian leadership is divided between the Palestinian Authority, which rules parts of the West Bank, and Hamas, the Islamist militant group that wrested control of Gaza from the authorities in 2007. Most Palestinians see little hope for reconciliation, recent polls show.
In Gaza, the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt is in its 15th year. One in four Palestinians were unemployed in 2021. Seven in 10 said they believed a Palestinian state was no longer feasible due to the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, according to a June survey. Nearly 80 percent want the resignation of Mr. Abbas, the ruling president who last faced an election in 2005, and vast majorities see both the ruling party and Hamas as corrupt.
Against this backdrop, many Palestinians are disillusioned with the Biden administration, with 65 percent opposing dialogue between their leadership and the United States. While the Biden administration has often called for a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict — and Mr. Biden repeated that call on Thursday — the perception among analysts is that he has not matched his words with action.
In the run-up to Mr. Biden’s visit, the White House announced several financial measures designed to improve the lives of Palestinians, but stopped short of the political process to create a Palestinian state and left several Trump-era measures in place.
In his remarks on Friday, Mr. Biden also called on the Palestinian Authority to do more to clean its own house.
“The Palestinian Authority also has important work to do, if you don’t mind my saying so,” Mr. Biden said. “Now is the time to strengthen Palestinian institutions to improve governance, transparency and accountability.” Now is the time to unlock the incredible potential of the Palestinian people through greater engagement and civil society to fight corruption, promote rights and freedoms and improve public services.”
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