President Biden on Friday reiterated his support for a two-state solution in the Middle East, adding that while it’s not the time to restart negotiations, there should be momentum from Israeli progress in integrating into the region.
“Even if the ground is not ripe at this moment to restart negotiations, the United States and my administration will not give up on trying to bring the Palestinians and Israelis and both sides closer together,” Biden said in a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority.
“I do believe in this moment, when Israel is improving relations with its neighbors throughout the region, we can harness that same momentum to reinvigorate the peace process between the Palestinian people and the Israelis,” he added.
Biden noted that he was among the earliest supporters of a two-state solution. Israel’s government will be in campaign mode for the next several months, which could constrain conversations about Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians.
Biden said that two states “remain the best way to achieve equal measure of security, prosperity, freedom and democracy for the Palestinians as well as Israelis.”
“The Palestinian people deserve a state of their own that’s independent, sovereign, viable, and contiguous,” he added. “Two states for two people, both of whom have deep and ancient roots in this land. Living side by side in peace and security. Both states fully respect in equal rights of the others’ citizens, both peoples enjoying equal measure of freedom and dignity. That’s what this is fundamentally all about.”
Biden mentioned the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in his comments and said he recognizes there has to be an end to violence in the region.
“I know the goal of a two state seems so far away,” he said. “Restrictions on movement and travel or the daily worry of your children’s safety are real and they are immediate. The Palestinian people are hurting now. You can just feel it. Your grief and frustration — in the United States we can feel it. But we never give up on the word peace.”
The family of Abu Akleh had sought a meeting with Biden on his trip and in a scathing letter to the president last week, accused the Biden administration of helping “whitewash” what they said was an “extrajudicial killing” by Israeli forces.
The State Department said earlier this month that a third-party investigation showed bullets from Israeli Defense Forces likely killed Abu Akleh, but that there was “no reason” to believe it was intentional.
Biden arrived at the West Bank earlier on Friday and will visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem later in the day. He will then depart Tel Aviv to fly to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.