Mahmoud Abbas, president of Palestine, met with Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Adviser. He urged the Biden administration to stop the Israeli government from continuing to take more severe measures against the Palestinians.
Abbas told Sullivan that the policies of the new Israeli coalition “are destroying the remaining chances of achieving peace and stability in the region,” according to a statement released by his office on Thursday.
“To intervene before it is too late to stop these unilateral measures,” he urged the United States.
Since Israel’s most extreme right-wing government took power a month ago, Sullivan also met with Netanyahu, the country’s prime minister. This was the highest-level meeting between the allies.
His visit comes at a time when several members of Netanyahu’s ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox governing coalition, which is already taking a hard line against the Palestinians and is expected to increase construction in illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, are causing concern in Washington.
With extremist Cabinet minister Itamar Ben-Gvir storming the Al Aqsa Mosque complex and the coalition taking combative steps against the Palestinian Authority that run counter to Biden’s efforts to boost US-Palestine ties, Israel’s new government has already proven to be a headache for the Biden administration.
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Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, two senior far-right Cabinet ministers who have previously expressed vehement anti-Palestine views, have previously raised concerns among US officials. Washington, on the other hand, has stated that it will engage Netanyahu’s government based on its policies rather than its personality.
Ben-Gvir is the minister of national security, a powerful position that places him in charge of Israel’s police force. He is a lawmaker who is known for his anti-Arab vitriol and provocative stunts. Smotrich is in charge of the Israeli defense agency in charge of Palestinian civil affairs. He is the leader of the Religious Zionism party, which has anti-Palestine views.
Abbas emphasized to Sullivan how crucial it is for the United States to press Israel to stop building illegal settlements and “daily killings and incursions into Palestinian cities and towns.”
On Thursday, an Israeli military arrest raid into the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank resulted in the deaths of two Palestinians. The occupied West Bank witnessed the deadliest year for Palestinians in 18 years last year.
Abbas also urged Sullivan to restore the US Consulate in Jerusalem, which oversees American ties to Palestinians in the West Bank, and reopen the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Washington in order to reverse the Trump administration’s punitive actions against the Palestinians.
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Netanyahu touts friendship with Biden
In the meantime, a statement from Netanyahu’s office said that the two talked about Iran’s nuclear program and ways to expand normalization agreements with four Arab countries that were made under the Trump administration.
According to footage of the meeting that has been made public, Netanyahu told Sullivan, “I’ve known President (Joe) Biden for 40 years as a great friend of Israel.” We regard you as a reliable partner in ensuring security and, naturally, advancing peace.”
Netanyahu was informed by Sullivan that Biden has a “commitment that’s rooted in shared history, shared interests, and shared values” and that his “commitment to the state of Israel is bone deep.”
According to Netanyahu’s statement to Sullivan, the measures, which include preventing Palestinian construction in portions of the occupied West Bank and withholding desperately needed tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority that Israel collects on its behalf, were a necessary response to Palestinian pressure on the United Nations’ highest judicial body to provide an opinion regarding the Israeli occupation.
Sullivan also met with high-ranking Israeli security personnel, including the Mossad chief.
According to the White House, he and Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi discussed ways to deepen cooperation in “clean energy, emerging technology, regional security, and commercial relations” via videoconference with their Bahraini and Emirati counterparts.
In 2020, through agreements backed by the US, Israel restored normal relations with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Source: TRT World