Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem today. Photo by Haim Zah, GPO
Jerusalem: In what could be illustrative of fragile peace in middle-east, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today quoted US President Joe Biden to make a statement that as for peace itself with the Palestinians, a formal peace, “you’re not going to get peace until Israel is recognized as an independent Jewish state”.
“…and that is the key. I couldn’t agree more with President Biden…We have a lot to work for,” Netanyahu told the visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, here. Blinken said the United States fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks such as the thousands of rockets fired by Hamas indiscriminately against Israeli civilians.
After Hamas, about which Netanyahu informed that both Israel and the US have discussed ways of how to work together to prevent the Palestinian militant group rearmament with the weapons and means of aggression, both nations now train train their guns on Iran.
“The second point is naturally Iran. We discussed many regional issues, but none is greater than Iran and I can tell you that I hope that the United States will not go back to the old JCPOA [The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known commonly as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, signed between USA and Iran in Vienna on July 14, 2015), because we believe that deal paves the way for Iran to have an arsenal of nuclear weapons with international legitimacy. Whatever happens, Israel will always reserve the right to defend itself against a regime committed to our destruction, committed to getting the weapons of mass destruction for that end,” Netanyahu said.
Blinken said both he and Netayahu had a detailed discussion about Israel’s security needs, and on the ongoing negotiations in Vienna around a potential return to the Iran nuclear agreement, “as we continue to work together to counter Iran’s destabilizing actions in the region”.
“In our own country, in the United States, we’ve witnessed a shocking eruption of anti-Semitic attacks. As President Biden said just yesterday, they are despicable and they must stop. There’s a lot of hard work ahead to restore hope, respect, and some trust across communities. But we’ve seen the alternative, and I think that should cause all of us to redouble our efforts to preserve the peace and improve the lives of Israelis and Palestinians alike,” he said, to which Netanyahu responded by thanking President Biden for the “strong statements against anti-Semitism masquerading as anti-Zionism”. He added: “.. but it’s anti-Semitism, and you [Biden] took a bold position, clear position, and we appreciate it. I think all decent people, decent people everywhere appreciate that stance”.
This has been Blinken’s first visit to Israel as Secretary of State as the United States has engaged in intensive diplomacy to bring an end to the hostilities in Gaza. He is traveling to the region to discuss essential follow-up efforts to consolidate the ceasefire and reduce risks of further conflict over the coming months.
Netanyahu recalled that Blinken, in a previous capacity in 2014, when Israel had another round of engagement against Hamas aggression, had supported Israel by having Iron Dome replenishments, a quarter of a billion dollars, that Blinken had “personally shepherded through the system very quickly”.
“You are giving meaning to this now again with replenishments of Iron Dome interceptors that save civilian lives on both sides. We’re grateful for that too. We too will give meaning to our commitment to our self-defense if Hamas breaks the calm and attacks Israel. Our response will be very powerful” said the Prime Minister, and thanked him and Presdient Biden “for firmly supporting Israel’s right of self-defense”.
Netanyahu further said that Israel needed to work together with the US to expand normalization between Israel and the Arab and the Muslim world and deepen the peace treaties that they already have.
“We also discussed how to improve the lives and the conditions of the Palestinians, the humanitarian conditions in Gaza, including the question of the return of our MIAs [missing in action] and two civilians who are there, as well as building economic growth for Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, with international cooperation and participation,” he said. “We have common goals of peace, security and prosperity, and I look forward to working with you on those in this visit and more,” he added.
Blinken has been travelling in the region to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo, and Amman between May 24-27, 2021, with four specific briefs from President Biden: First, to demonstrate the commitment of the United States to Israel’s security, to start to work toward greater stability and reduce tensions in the West Bank and Jerusalem, to support urgent humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for Gaza, to benefit the Palestinian people, and to continue to rebuild our relationship with the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority.
“Intense behind-the-scenes diplomacy led by President Biden, working very closely with the prime minister, helped produce last week’s ceasefire. Now, we believe we must build on it,” Blinken said. He pointed out that Biden has been one of Israel’s most steadfast supporters for the last 50 years, having worked closely with every prime minister starting with Golda Meir and now with Prime Minister Netanyahu.
While stating that both Palestinians and Israelis equally deserved to live safely and securely; to enjoy equal measures of freedom, opportunity, and democracy; to be treated with dignity, Blinken said they also discussed some of the intercommunal violence that erupted in Israel during the conflict. “And we very much welcome the statements the prime minister [Netanyahu] made and members of his government made condemning the attacks regardless of whom they targeted,” he said.
After meeting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, and other senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem, Blinken met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, and other senior officials from the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah later today, where he committed to provide $75 million in additional development and economic assistance for the Palestinians in 2021. “In total, we are in the process of providing more than $360 million of urgent support for the Palestinian people, and across these efforts, we will work with partners to ensure that Hamas does not benefit from these reconstruction efforts,” he said and informed that the US will also provide $5.5 million in immediate disaster assistance for Gaza and a little over $32 million for [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees] UNRWA’s emergency humanitarian appeal.
President Abbas, who affirmed his commitment to “peaceful popular resistance”, thanked the U.S. administration for its commitment to a two-state solution, and the maintenance of the status quo in Jerusalem, and to keep the residents of Jerusalem and Sheikh Jarrah in their homes. “We renounce violence and terrorism, and we only want to achieve a political solution through peaceful means between us and Israel,” he said. He informed Blinken that Palestine postponed the elections, “because Israel has refused to include Jerusalem in these elections, and the minute that it does we will hold them immediately and without any delay, because ultimately what we’re interested in is to establish democracy throughout Palestine”.
Abbas affirmed that his government stands ready to work directly in order for the reconstruction of Gaza and also to establish a national unity government for that end that would be all-inclusive. And in the event that such agreement materializes, our first condition would be that Hamas and all parties have to abide by international legitimacy resolutions that are known for everyone.
Blinken will now travel to Cairo to meet with President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and thereafter will conclude his trip with a stop in Amman to meet with King Abdullah II of Jordan and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.
Blinken’s programme made Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi remark in course of their meeting today, “The Secretary has an impossible schedule…”
– global bihari bureau
