Double-barreled scheme to both one-up China’s Belt & Road initiative and bind Riyadh and Jerusalem strategically
"Biden may indeed be close to finding a way to upgrade Saudi nuclear capabilities without endangering Israel or launching a Middle East nuclear arms race. He also just unveiled, in India, a major global transport and communications project linking that country to Europe via Saudi Arabia and Israel. This appears to be a double-barreled scheme to both one-up China’s Belt & Road initiative and bind Riyadh and Jerusalem strategically. Now Biden just needs to get the Saudis, Israelis and Palestinians on board . . ."
"A. Frankly, even a Netanyahu less constrained by his coalition partners is not likely to offer those concessions. At the end of the day, his current coalition appears to suit Netanyahu’s true political and ideological approach to the Palestinian issue, which one former head of Mossad recently labeled ‘apartheid’.
One partial way around the issue could emerge at the United Nations, where the Palestinians are reportedly negotiating with Brett McGurk, Biden’s senior Middle East adviser, on a package of achievements at the international level. These would include full UN statehood status for Palestine, a reopened Palestinian delegation office in Washington, and a reopened US consulate in East Jerusalem (where the Saudis also want to open a consulate) to liaise with the Ramallah-based PLO. Riyadh is hinting at offering large sums of financial aid to the always needy Palestinian Authority.
The consulates in East Jerusalem, alone among these measures, would still require Israeli approval. But what if that is somehow all that stands in the way of a Saudi normalization deal? It is hard to believe that MbS, whose country traditionally champions Palestinian national rights, would suffice with that. Or Biden: at a minimum, the US president would want to know he is dealing with a democratic Israeli government that has stopped crushing Israel’s judicial branch of government and is no longer stealing Palestinian land."
One partial way around the issue could emerge at the United Nations, where the Palestinians are reportedly negotiating with Brett McGurk, Biden’s senior Middle East adviser, on a package of achievements at the international level. These would include full UN statehood status for Palestine, a reopened Palestinian delegation office in Washington, and a reopened US consulate in East Jerusalem (where the Saudis also want to open a consulate) to liaise with the Ramallah-based PLO. Riyadh is hinting at offering large sums of financial aid to the always needy Palestinian Authority.
The consulates in East Jerusalem, alone among these measures, would still require Israeli approval. But what if that is somehow all that stands in the way of a Saudi normalization deal? It is hard to believe that MbS, whose country traditionally champions Palestinian national rights, would suffice with that. Or Biden: at a minimum, the US president would want to know he is dealing with a democratic Israeli government that has stopped crushing Israel’s judicial branch of government and is no longer stealing Palestinian land."
SOURCE:
https://peacenow.org/entry.php?id=42060
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