In a joint information convention with Netanyahu on Monday, after days of escalating bloodshed, Blinken mentioned that sustaining the “vision” of a two-state answer was “the only way forward.”
Blinken didn’t name for a brand new spherical of talks. He referred to as for calm. The final try to advertise the 2 state answer in 2014 led by the previous secretary of state John F. Kerry led to failure.
Netanyahu was well mannered however didn’t interact on the phrases “two states,” alluding solely briefly to discovering “a workable solution with our Palestinian neighbors,” earlier than he pivoted to frequent floor with the USA over Iran.
On Tuesday, Blinken was scheduled to fulfill with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, now in his late 80s and struggling for relevance. Blinken is predicted to attraction to Abbas to sentence violence.
On the subject of lasting peace, many Palestinians and Israelis view this go to by a prime U.S. diplomat as simply one other episode in a long-running present, with well-worn themes and a solid of reappearing characters.
On the road, the 2 sides sound particularly despondent — with each fast to conclude the Individuals look like simply going by means of the motions, looking for to calm issues down a bit of, as they fear about larger threats, coming from Russia and China.
Alice Krieger, a peace activist from Tel Aviv, instructed The Washington Publish, “this conflict won’t end because things are going to get worse.”
She noticed that in his remarks, Blinken expressed his condolences for the seven individuals killed by a Palestinian gunman exterior a synagogue in East Jerusalem on Friday, however didn’t point out the navy raid in Jenin within the West Financial institution that killed 10 Palestinians a day earlier than.
“He didn’t mention Jenin even. All he did was praise America’s relationship with Israel and say America is with you,” she mentioned. “It made me puke.”
Exterior the submit workplace within the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem, Ahmad Abdulazid, a younger accountant, mentioned, “we are not counting on anything from Blinken and from the Americans.”
Abdulazid thought “the two-state solution is like a song the Americans sing when they want to pacify us. It’s like a lullaby you sing to children to put them to sleep.”
Each Israelis and Palestinians identified that Netanyahu’s new authorities — an alliance of settler activists, non secular conservatives and hard-line ultranationalists — rose to energy promising to develop the occupation of the West Financial institution and implement harsher measures to counter Palestinian violence.
Abdulazid mentioned he thought the Individuals would stand by as Israel constructed extra Jewish settlements within the West Financial institution and appropriated extra land.
“But Blinken has to understand this,” he mentioned, “if the Palestinians lose hope, they will turn into monsters.”
Many Jewish Israelis view a Palestinian state to be an unimaginable prospect, they usually view the Individuals as meddlers, even when well-meaning.
“The position on the two state solution is wrong. It’s anti-Israeli,” mentioned Michael Yigal Mimon, 74, a historian from Nahariya in northern Israel.
“The majority is against this solution. We know it’s not going to help,” Mimon mentioned. “The U.S. has this position, we just have to maneuver around it. This is not our position. It is the American position. It’s a recipe for disaster.”
A survey last week by the Palestinian Heart for Coverage and Survey Analysis reveals that assist for a two-state answer within the area is at an all-time low, with solely one-third of Palestinians and one-third of Jewish Israelis backing the creation of two states.
Marwan Jabir, the proprietor of a seafood restaurant within the Palestinian neighborhood of Shufat in East Jerusalem, mentioned the Individuals nonetheless may play an important function — by pressuring the Netanyahu authorities to cease demolishing Palestinian properties and finishing up navy raids.
“You think those things will make the Palestinians more agreeable? More peaceful?” he requested. “America is only one that can protect Israel from itself.”
Jabir has misplaced hope in two states — as he has misplaced hope within the Palestinian Authority and its present management.
“I don’t think the Americans are really interested in solving the conflict,” Jabir mentioned. “Abbas is nothing. He’s only a pawn. He’s not a player. He has no power. It is the Israel. It’s America. They decide.”
Sufian Taha contributed to this report.
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