U.S. officials are downplaying reports that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas refused to take Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call by saying the two sides are having “working level” conversations.
Abbas and Blinken have not spoken, reportedly because the Palestinian official has refused to take the top U.S. diplomat’s call. Abbas wants a phone call with President Joe Biden, who has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that holdout has delayed high-level conversations between the U.S. government and Abbas’s team.
“We typically don’t read out conversations at the working level,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters when asked to describe the contact between the U.S. government and the Palestinian Authority. “Certainly, we are prepared to continue to engage the Palestinians, including Palestinian government officials, on ways we can provide assistance to the Palestinian people.”
“I would fully expect that there will continue to be engagement with the Palestinian people, and Palestinian leaders as well,” he added.
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Biden campaigned on a party platform pledging to “restore U.S.-Palestinian diplomatic ties and critical assistance to the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza, consistent with U.S. law,” while also affirming that “a strong, secure, and democratic Israel is vital to the interests of the United States.”
The platform warned against “any unilateral steps by either side — including annexation — that undermine prospects for two states,” in a clear warning to Netanyahu. The Israeli leader abandoned his stated plan to annex certain Palestinian districts weeks later, as part of the signing of the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates.
“For our part, President Biden is restoring U.S. assistance programs that support economic development and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the U.N. Security Council last week. “This urgent, necessary aid is one piece of our renewed commitment to the Palestinian people. The aid will help Palestinians in dire need, which will bring more stability and security to both Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
Biden is expected to restore U.S. funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which Trump scrapped with the implicit goal of pressuring Palestinian officials to begin negotiations with the Israelis on terms congenial to the administration’s long-sought “deal of the century,” as Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner’s initiative was termed.
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“We will continue to provide assistance to benefit all Palestinians, including refugees, and we’re determining at the moment how to move forward with that,” Price said Monday.
