U.S. officials expressed concern that any measure to improve the Palestinians’ wellbeing or the security of the Palestinian Authority – even purely economic gestures – may be met with opposition from far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet
As part of attempts to advance Israel-Saudi relations, the Biden administration is discussing measures with Israel and the Palestinian Authority focusing on strengthening the PA, supporting its economy and reducing friction between the Israeli army and settlers with Palestinians in the West Bank, two sources familiar with the talks told Haaretz.
The administration aims to prepare a series of measures that Israel will find acceptable, assist the Palestinians and could be seen as an achievement by Saudi Arabia for the betterment of the Palestinians. The matter also came up in conversations between American and Israeli and Palestinian officials in past weeks, including during Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf’s visit to Israel last month.
Several factors – particularly the composition of the current Israeli government and the ongoing violence in the West Bank – threaten the plan’s chances of success. Senior U.S. officials expressed concern that any measure to significantly improve the Palestinians’ wellbeing or the security of the Palestinian authority, even purely economic gestures, may be met with opposition from far-right ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet. The administration further blames Israel for not yet completing the steps it committed to at the Aqaba security conference in Jordan earlier this year.
At the same time, Palestinians have expressed to the United States that they fear that the Israeli gestures may be empty promises and will never come to fruition.
A source who participated in the discussions told Haaretz that “The Palestinians are afraid that the Americans are going to fool them.” He added, “They’ll be presented with gestures that have no real effect, but [Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir] will oppose them regardless. At this point, the Americans then will be able to say that Netanyahu puts so much pressure on his ministers and is criticized from within his government. This will help Israel with Saudi Arabia, but nothing real will come of it for the benefit of the Palestinians.”
Israel’s security cabinet was expected to convene Sunday to discuss the fragile state of the Palestinian Authority. IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi and Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Ghasan Alyan are expected to warn against the further deterioration of the PA’s status.
Channel 13 News reported that Smotrich and Ben-Gvir object to ideas that have come up ahead of the cabinet meeting, such as building a new industrial zone in the West Bank and debt rescheduling for the Palestinian Authority. These measures are more minor than those that the U.S. administration is considering, some of which include past Israeli promises to the Palestinians that were never realized.
During Leaf’s visit to Israel last month, she conveyed to her Israeli counterparts that the violent escalation in the West Bank is hindering the administration’s efforts to promote normalization between Israel and Arab countries. A couple of days later, in response to a series of notices from Israel of expanding housing construction in the West Bank, Morocco officially announced that the second Negev Forum summit, which includes Israel, the United States and several Arab countries, will not take place this summer as planned.
The Biden administration is concerned that the escalation will indeed harm progress with Saudi Arabia, and pointed to a series of messages from the kingdom in recent weeks emphasizing the importance of the Palestinian issue.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that it is impossible to separate the Saudi issue from the Palestinian issue and warned that progress between Israel and Saudi Arabia cannot come at the expense of the Palestinians.
Israeli officials dismiss these warnings and claim that the Saudis consider the Palestinian issue to be secondary as well. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in recent weeks that the fate of the talks with the Saudis depends first and foremost on the Biden administration’s response to the Saudi demands, implicitly referring to the Saudis’ desire to develop their own nuclear program with U.S. backing.