The Biden administration announced a partial reversal of a Trump-era policy on Palestine by opening a “U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs” in the country.
Foreign experts view President Joe Biden’s move as a way to reward the Palestinian leadership following waves of terrorism, including an incident where a Palestinian gunman killed three people and wounded six others in a crowded bar in Tel Aviv last month.
Biden administration overrules Trump policy on Palestinians https://t.co/A24pd1FKtL
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A prominent former Trump official, however, sees the reversal as a setback for the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
“We had a consul-general in West Jerusalem for decades dedicated to Palestinian affairs, which meant Palestinians had to cross into West Jerusalem for any consular affairs related to the United States,” said Victoria Coates, a former deputy national security adviser for the Middle East and North Africa under former President Donald Trump.
“Since 2018, their affairs have been handled by a proper U.S. Embassy, which also happens to be in West Jerusalem. This unnecessary change with the Palestinians will only prolong the stalemate between them and Israel and will not bring us any closer to peace than the old ConGen [consulate-general] did [before Trump],” she continued.
Israel’s former Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon also criticized the upgrade of the Palestinian Affairs Unit, until now part of the embassy to Israel.
“The Biden administration is reverting to past failed practices,” Danon told reporters. “Although the announced changes are essentially bureaucratic in nature, with amendments to names and reporting lines, it is the symbolism of the move which hits home for some. It signals an upgrade in relations with the possibility of more fruitless promises to come.
“The Abraham Accords moved beyond broken paradigms and looked for new solutions,” he added. “This new path has been astoundingly successful. It is perhaps time for the current U.S. administration to cast aside past failed policies and look to set new, sound strategy.”
This comes after the Biden administration said that they are considering lifting some tariffs on China that were put in place byTrump as well.
“We are looking at it. In fact, the president has asked us on his team to analyze that. And so we are in the process of doing that for him and he will have to make that decision,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.
