Xinhua News Agency, Jerusalem, February 1st(International observation) Blinken’s intention of "extinguishing fire" in the Middle East is difficult to achieve.
Xinhua news agency reporter
US Secretary of State Blinken ended her three-day trip to the Middle East on January 31st. He visited Egypt, Israel and Palestine successively, and cooling the tension between Palestine and Israel became the main purpose of this trip. However, analysts believe that Blinken has not brought any substantive measures, and the political and security situation in Palestine and Israel is complicated and grim, so it is difficult for this visit to bring substantial changes to regional peace and stability.
The same old story is insincere.
Recently, the tension between Palestine and Israel has escalated and violent conflicts have continued. In this context, "fire fighting" for the Palestinian-Israeli tension has become one of the top tasks of Blinken’s visit.
This is a photo of US Secretary of State Blinken taken on April 7, 2022. Xinhua News Agency reporter Zheng Huansong photo
Egypt is one of the important mediators in the Palestinian-Israeli issue. During the talks with Egyptian President Seyce, Blinken said that the United States hopes to actively coordinate with Egypt to cool the situation between Palestine and Israel. The Egyptian Presidential Palace said in a statement that Sethi reiterated Egypt’s firm position on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, that is, to promote a just and comprehensive solution and safeguard the rights of the Palestinian people in accordance with international standards.
In their talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Abbas respectively, Blinken reiterated the United States’ support for the "two-state solution" to the Palestinian-Israeli issue.
The repeated Palestinian-Israeli conflicts are rooted in the fact that the "two-state plan" has not been implemented so far, and the reasonable demands of the Palestinian people for independent statehood have not been realized for a long time. Analysts pointed out that although the US government has always claimed to support the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli issue through the "two-state solution", the United States has long been partial to Israel, and Blinken’s trip has also failed to show sincerity.
The Palestinian people did not expect much from Blinken’s visit, and many Palestinian political factions also held negative attitudes. The People’s Front of Pakistan called on Abbas not to succumb to the pressure from the United States, and called on the people to oppose Blinken’s visit.
Abu Zeyad, a former official of the Palestinian National Authority, pointed out that on the surface, the United States attaches great importance to the Palestinian-Israeli issue, but judging from Blinken’s position, the United States just keeps repeating the same old tune, or stays at the level of supporting the "two-state plan" and avoids talking about substantive issues such as ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. Palestine should stop betting on the United States to solve the Palestinian-Israeli problem.
The problem is out of focus and inconsistent
Israel is an important ally of the United States in the Middle East. As for Blinken’s current visit, analysts believe that its purpose is to coordinate with the new Israeli government, which took office in December last year, on common strategic priorities.
On January 27, 2023, Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers in Beit Dejan, the eastern village of Nablus in the West Bank city. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Nidal)
The new Israeli government is composed of right-wing forces and far-right forces, and is called "the rightmost government" in Israeli history by the media. Among them, itamar Ben-Gewell, the leader of the extreme right, visited the Temple Mount (called "Noble Forbidden Area" by Muslims) in the old city of Jerusalem after he became the Minister of National Security, which triggered strong protests from countries in Palestine and other regions.
Michael Milstein, an expert at the moshe dayan Center for Middle East and Africa Studies at Tel Aviv University in Israel, pointed out that Blinken’s visit is aimed at clarifying the US position on some policies of the new Israeli government, so that Israel can clearly define the US "red line" on the Palestinian-Israeli issue.
However, the new Israeli government does not want Blinken’s visit to focus on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, but tries to focus on the Iranian nuclear issue and how to promote the normalization of relations with Arab countries.
After meeting with Netanyahu, Blinken stressed the importance of cooling down the situation between Palestine and Israel. However, Netanyahu made no mention of the current tension, but talked about Iran’s threat to the region, expressing the hope that the United States would promote the normalization of relations between Israel and more Arab countries, on the grounds that the settlement of the Israeli-Arab contradiction would help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Assault "fire fighting" is difficult to work
Analysts believe that because the diplomatic focus of the United States is not on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, and the political and security situation in the region is complicated and grim, Blinken’s trip to the Middle East may not bring substantial changes to the current tension between Palestine and Israel.
On January 27, 2023, Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers in Beit Dejan, the eastern village of Nablus in the West Bank city. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Nidal)
On the one hand, the tough line of the new Israeli government on the Palestinian-Israeli issue is likely to continue. Ghassan khatib, a professor at Birzeit University in Palestine, pointed out that after four years of political turmoil and frequent elections, the new Israeli government will continue to take a tough line against the Palestinians and escalate its military operations in the West Bank in order to prevent the extreme right forces from withdrawing from the ruling Coalition and causing the government to collapse.
On the other hand, the Palestinian National Authority’s ability to control the anti-Israel activities of Palestinians in the West Bank is also weakening. At present, parts of Jenin are controlled by Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Islamic Jihad (Jehad). Samir Abdallah, a Palestinian political analyst and former government official, said that Blinken had put pressure on the Palestinian leadership to cool down the conflict, but it was now difficult for the Palestinian leadership to control the people’s resistance to Israel.
At the same time, the Palestinian people generally believe that the United States will only take sides in the Palestinian-Israeli issue and engage in double standards, which will not have a substantial effect on promoting the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli issue.
Recently, the United States has sent senior officials such as national security adviser Sullivan and director of the Central Intelligence Agency Burns to visit the Palestinian-Israeli region. However, analysts pointed out that solving the Palestinian-Israeli issue is not the top priority of American diplomacy at present. Milstein said that the priorities of the United States are still its internal affairs and the Ukrainian crisis.
Mukhtar Gobashy, vice chairman of the Egyptian Arab Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said that Blinken’s purpose is to ease the situation between Palestine and Israel, but unless the US government really puts pressure on Israel, this visit will not have an impact on calming tensions. (Participating in reporters: Lu Yingxu, Zhang Tianlang, Liu Weijian, Yao Bing, PG One)