US vows to restore relations with Palestinians

UNITED NATIONS－US President Joe Biden's administration announced on Tuesday it was restoring relations with the Palestinians and renewing aid to Palestinian refugees, a reversal of his predecessor Donald Trump's cutoff and a key element of its new support for a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Richard Mills, acting US ambassador to the United Nations, made the announcement of Biden's approach to a high-level virtual Security Council meeting, saying the new US administration believes this "remains the best way to ensure Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state while upholding the Palestinians' legitimate aspirations for a state of their own and to live with dignity and security".

Trump's administration provided unprecedented support to Israel, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv and slashing financial assistance for the Palestinians.

Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East War. The international community considers both areas to be occupied territory.

"Under the new administration, the policy of the United States will be to support a mutually agreed two-state solution, one in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state," Mills said.

Before Mills spoke, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki criticized the Trump administration for using "the US might and influence to support Israel's unlawful efforts to entrench its occupation" and reiterated hopes "for the resumption of relations and positive engagement".

Also at the UN meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov backed a Palestinian proposal for a peace conference, saying it could be held at ministerial level in spring or summer with about 10 participants.

10-party conference

They would include Israel, the Palestinians, the four members of the so-called Middle East diplomatic quartet (Russia, the United Nations, the United States and the European Union), along with four Arab states－Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, Lavrov said.

"It would also be important to invite Saudi Arabia, which is behind the Arab peace initiative," he said.

But according to some Israeli experts, it is unlikely that Israelis and Palestinians will inch closer to solving their conflict in the near future as the new administration of Biden, with its hands full with pressing internal matters and unfavorable political conditions in the Middle East, might change Washington's approach to the peace process.

"There will never be a more pro-settlement plan coming out of the American government. It never happened before and will never again," said Jonathan Rynhold, a professor with the Political Studies Department at Bar Ilan University.

Nimrod Goren, head of the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, said: "These were years when the chances of peace dwindled. Trump took steps that undermined the international consensus on the two-state solution, weakened a moderate Palestinian leadership and gave Israelis the feeling that the issue is no longer relevant."

Agencies - Xinhua