US Secretary of State Tony Blinken has directed the State Department to conduct a review and propose policy options on possible US and international recognition of a Palestinian state following the Gaza conflict, according to an article published in Axios on Wednesday, citing two US officials’ briefed on the subject.
While for decades US policy has opposed bilateral or UN recognition of Palestine as a state, holding that statehood could only be achieved through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, finding a diplomatic way out of the present conflict in Gaza has opened the door to the US “rethinking many of its traditional paradigms and policies,” according to a top US official.
Under its post-war policy, the Biden administration is connecting any rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia to formation of a Palestinian state, which now aligns the US with Saudi policy.
Since October 7, Saudi authorities have made it plain, both publicly and privately, that any future “normalization” agreement with Israel would be contingent on the establishment of an “irrevocable” path toward Palestinian statehood.
Some in the Biden administration believe that recognition of a Palestinian state should be the first step, not the last, in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian problem, according to a senior US official.
The US has a number of alternatives already to choose from to recognize Palestinian statehood, according to Axios. These include: recognizing the Palestinian state on a bilateral basis; not using the US veto to prevent the UN Security Council from accepting Palestine as a full member; and encouraging other nations to recognize Palestine.
Whatever approach is adopted, the bottom line, a US official said, is to look at options implementing a two-state solution in a way that “assures security for Israel.”
Developing a menu of options to recognize a Palestinian state is only one of the topics for the Dept. of State’s review. Blinken also requested the Department to review what a demilitarized state of Palestine would look like.
The White House is aware of Blinken’s request, Axios reported. A White House National Security Council spokesperson said it “has been long-standing U.S. policy that any recognition of a Palestinian state must come through direct negotiations between the parties rather than through unilateral recognition at the UN. That policy has not changed.”
Signaling a potential internal rift, the State Department told Axios it declined to comment.