With selfish agenda, Biden achieves limited goals on 1st Mideast trip as US president
INACTION ON ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN ISSUE
During his visit to Israel and a short stay in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Biden made no real push for reviving the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, ignoring the Palestinians' repeated calls.
After meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, Biden only reiterated his "commitment to the goal of a two-state solution," and added that such a goal "seems so far away."
Abbas urged the US president to create a political atmosphere to achieve a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the region based on international resolutions and the two-state solution.
Experts also warned that amid the growing ties between Israel and major Arab countries in recent years, the Palestinian issue has been increasingly marginalized. The priorities of the US agenda in the region have shifted to containing Iran and to maintaining the US hegemony.
"The essence of Biden's visit is to arrange a regional alliance to secure the American interests and confront Iran," said Ramzi Rabah, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee, calling on Biden to fulfill his promises to the Palestinians.
In the past days, thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip held protests against Biden's visit, slamming his biased pro-Israeli stance on the Palestinian-Israeli issue.
