WASHINGTON – The Biden government will restore diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority, more than two years after President Donald J. Trump effectively ended it. The action points to a return to a more traditional and proportionate approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict following a Trump administration policy that was strongly skewed toward Israel.
The move, which will include a resumption of US aid to the Palestinians, was announced in a speech by Richard Mills, the United States’ acting ambassador to the United Nations, on Tuesday.
Mills also reaffirmed support for a “mutually agreed two-state solution” between Israel and the Palestinians, “in which Israel lives in peace and security, along with a viable Palestinian state.” And he called on the parties to refrain from unilateral action, such as the annexation of territory and settlement activities by Israel, or incitement to violence by the Palestinians, which could complicate such an outcome.
Analysts and regional leaders say the prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal are bleak than in decades. The parties have virtually stopped communication, Palestinian leaders have summarily rejected a Trump White House peace plan last year, and the issue is not among the top priorities of foreign policy.
But the announcement is part of a broader return to the former United States’ foreign policy practices under Mr. Biden, and an end to the open hostility between Washington and the Palestinians fueled by the Trump administration. Led by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump has taken an open punitive approach to the Palestinians with the aim of forcing them to make concessions to Israel, too few.
The policy shift was quickly welcomed by Palestinian leaders and supporters of a negotiated solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
“This is exactly the kind of swift action the government needs to take to restore American credibility as a diplomatic mediator between Israelis and Palestinians,” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a liberal advocacy group representing an Israeli settlement with the Palestinians. “The undoing of the terrible damage done by the Trump administration begins with the re-establishment of a working relationship with the Palestinian leadership and people.”
Mills said the Biden government would “take steps to reopen diplomatic missions concluded by the last US government” without providing details. In addition to the closure of the Palestinian Mission in Washington in September 2018, the Trump administration also closed the US Consulate in East Jerusalem.
Mr. Biden has no straightforward way to reopen a Palestinian mission in Washington. A law passed by Congress in 1987 blocked the Palestinians’ right to open an office in the United States. Successive presidents were able to circumvent the legislation with a waiver, but subsequent laws passed in 2015 and 2018 limited the president’s ability to circumvent the earlier restriction.
The announcement was nevertheless warmly welcomed by Palestinian officials, who regarded the tone of the Biden government as a welcome respite from the cold shoulder that Mr. Trump offered.
“For the first time, President Biden’s government has officially stated its position on the peace process and the two-state solution,” Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s executive committee and minister of social development at the Palestinian Authority, said in response to the announcement. “We believe that this position is an important positive step on the path to restoring US-Palestinian bilateral relations and that it opens the door to restoring the peace process within the framework of multilateral international sponsorship.”
Mills also said that Mr. Biden ‘plans’ to restore US aid programs that support economic development and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people. ‘
In 2018, the Trump administration cut off $ 200 million in economic aid to the Palestinians and stopped about $ 350 million annually for a United Nations agency that assists Palestinian refugees.
“We do not consider these steps to be in favor of the Palestinian leadership,” he added. “US aid benefits millions of ordinary Palestinians and helps maintain a stable environment that benefits both Palestinians and Israelis.”
At the same time, Mr. Trump opposed Washington’s opposition to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, although he did not support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s talk of territorial annexation.
Alternatively, the Trump administration mediated diplomatic agreements between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors, in exchange for the assurance of Mr. Netanyahu that he will not follow the annexation for now, although he has not abandoned the idea. The Israeli leader is now facing a national election for the fourth time in two years after Israel’s coalition government failed to hold together.
In his remarks to the United Nations Security Council, Mr. Mills said the Biden government welcomed “the recent normalization agreements” between Israel and Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. But he added that “Arab-Israeli normalization is not a substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace.”
He added that “the United States will maintain its steadfast support for Israel” and “will continue its long-standing policy of resisting unilateral resolutions and other actions in international institutions that unfairly exclude Israel.” Although the Democratic Party has become more critical of Israeli policy in recent years, the position of Mr. Pray more centrally and he is less quick to criticize the country than other Democrats.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry declined to comment.
This month, the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, announced a schedule for the first Palestinian election in at least 15 years, in a move that is seen in part as an attempt to gain favor with Mr. Bid to get.
Mr. Mills is the US Chargé d’affaires at the United Nations. Mr. Biden has nominated Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a State Department career official, to serve as its permanent ambassador to the body.
Patrick Kingsley reported from Jerusalem and Mohammed Najib of Ramallah, West Bank.