Comment President Biden devoted the final hours of his visit to Israel to restoring ties with the Palestinians severed by his predecessor, visiting a Palestinian hospital Friday in East Jerusalem and crossing an Israeli military checkpoint to meet with the president of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem. The president demanded a full accounting of the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during an Israeli raid in the West Bank, the first time he publicly reported the incident during his visit. The two Biden events produced no progress toward reviving talks in the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. But the White House announced a series of measures aimed at improving the situation at a time “when the Palestinians are hurting, you can just feel it,” Biden said after meeting with Abbas. How Shireen Abu Akleh was killed “I know that the goal of the two holds [solution] seems so far away, while offenses like restrictions on movement and travel or the daily concern for the safety of your children are real and immediate,” the president said. “So, even if the ground is not ripe right now for a resumption of negotiations, the United States and my administration will not give up trying to bring the Palestinians and Israelis closer together.” The government approved $316 million in new aid to the Palestinians, including $100 million for a network of hospitals serving patients from the West Bank and Gaza. Another $200 million will go to the United Nations agency that supports Palestinian refugees, funding largely eliminated by the Trump administration. Biden, who has pledged to renew support for the Palestinians, began restoring Washington’s contribution soon after taking office. The White House also announced $15 million in emergency aid to help regions during grain shortages caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as an initiative to accelerate the deployment of 4G technology in the West Bank and Gaza. The government said it is also pressing Israel to ease travel restrictions on Palestinians, simplifying transit between the West Bank and Jordan. “It is an honor to see firsthand the quality of care you provide to the Palestinian people,” Biden said after touring Augusta Victoria Hospital, the premier advanced care facility available to residents of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. , most of whom need an Israeli Permit to travel there. “Palestinians and Israelis deserve an equal measure of freedom, security, prosperity and dignity,” the president said, announcing the new hospital funding. “And access to health care when you need it is essential to living a dignified life.” Biden traveled to East Jerusalem without Israeli officials accompanying him, prompting some right-wing politicians to complain that the president was undermining Israel’s sovereignty over the entire city, including its Palestinian neighborhoods. Palestinians have little hope that Biden’s visit will improve their lives Biden, who has refused to overturn President Donald Trump’s move of the US embassy to Jerusalem, said his solo trip to the hospital did not signal a change in policy. He reiterated the official view that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital during his meeting with Abbas, according to the White House. However, he said the city’s final boundaries must be determined through future negotiations. The president’s meetings with the Palestinians follow two days of warm embraces by Israeli officials, during which Biden made clear his support for the Jewish state and contested the label “Zionist.” His reception on the other side of the security wall was less enthusiastic, reflecting frustration that Biden did not do more to pressure Israel to resume peace talks and improve its treatment of Palestinians under occupation. Some protesters in Ramallah held “Biden go home” signs during a demonstration on Thursday. An Israeli advocacy group, B’Tselem, placed billboards near the 26-foot-tall separation wall in Bethlehem that read “Mr. President, this is apartheid,” a characterization Biden rejected. In Bethlehem, Biden reaffirmed his support for a peace deal that would end the Israeli occupation and create an independent Palestine, as he did during stops in Israel, but also saw no prospect of resuming talks. He had declared his intention to reopen the US consulate in East Jerusalem, but so far this has not been countered by Israeli objections. So far in his presidency, Palestinians do not see Biden as their champion, according to pollsters. “Palestinians see it as positive that this president has restored some of the funding and talks with Palestinian leaders, but overall the feeling about this trip and the last year and a half is one of disappointment,” said Khalil Shikaki, a pollster and director. of the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Research. “The hope that he would be very different from Trump has faded. Now they see him as a little different.” After Biden’s meeting with Abbas, the Palestinian leader asked the president in front of reporters to pressure Israel to end settlement expansion and settler violence against Palestinians, as well as its policy of demolishing Palestinian homes and frequent Israeli raids and arrests in Palestinian cities. Abbas also asked Biden to reopen the East Jerusalem consulate, the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, and remove it from the list of designated terrorist organizations. “We are not terrorists,” said Abbas, who is the group’s president. Abbas also asked Biden to push for more investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh, the journalist who was killed in the West Bank city of Jenin while reporting on an Israeli raid. Arab-American journalists around the world shared stories about the impact and legacy of slain reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in the wake of her May 11 murder. (Video: Joshua Carroll, Leila Barghouty/The Washington Post) Israel, after initially saying Abu Akleh was likely killed by a Palestinian gunman during a firefight, now says it cannot be determined who was responsible. The Biden administration, after brokering a joint ballistics analysis earlier this month, accepted the finding that the shot likely came from an Israeli soldier. In Bethlehem, Biden called her death “a tremendous loss for the vital work of sharing with the world the story of the Palestinian people.” “The United States will continue to insist on a full and transparent accounting of her death and will continue to defend media freedom,” he said. With the liberal wing of the Democratic Party increasingly aligned with Palestinian causes, many here expected Biden to engage in the conflict more forcefully than he has, Shikaki said. “He’s not even doing as much as Obama did,” Shikaki said. “That they can’t do something as small and symbolic as opening the consulate is seen as a real lack of courage or will or ability.” Some Palestinians see Biden’s events in the West Bank, between his days in Israel and his departure for Saudi Arabia, as a footnote to his real priority: deepening Israel’s ties with other Arab nations in the region. Saudi Arabia’s Gulf neighbors Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are among the countries that have recently established formal relations with Israel despite their long-standing promise not to do so without a resolution to the Palestinian conflict. Saudi Arabia’s government announced Friday that it is opening its airspace to Israeli commercial flights, ending a traditional blockade that will save hours on flights between Israel and parts of Asia. Biden and Israeli officials hailed the shift as a step toward warmer relations between the two countries.
