U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reportedly asked the State Department to review options for a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state at the end of the war between Hamas and Israel — a major break from past U.S. policy, and from Israel.
Barak Ravid of Axios reported:
While U.S. officials say there has been no policy change, the fact the State Department is even considering such options signals a shift in thinking within the Biden administration on possible Palestinian statehood recognition, which is highly sensitive both internationally and domestically.
For decades, U.S. policy has been to oppose the recognition of Palestine as a state both bilaterally and in UN institutions and to stress Palestinian statehood should only be achieved through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The story — almost certainly leaked deliberately from the State Department — comes as Blinken prepares to visit Israel for the fifth time since the Hamas terror attack on October 7 launched the war.
Though Blinken has expressed sympathy for the Israeli people, he has also tried to restrict Israel’s military response, and has lately become adamant about forcing Israel to accept a Palestinian state, which would be a major win for Hamas, which would achieve that outcome after the mass murder of civilians.
Blinken has even blamed Israelis for being intransigent on a Palestinian state. The truth is that nearly two-thirds of Israelis had supported such a state in 2012 — but now nearly two-thirds oppose one, because of the way Hamas turned Gaza into a terror base.
The Biden administration pursued a Palestinian state since before October 7, even reportedly blocking a Saudi-Israeli peace deal because of the administration’s insistence that it include a Palestinian state, whether the Palestinians are ready for one or not.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has adamantly opposed a Palestinian state as the outcome of the war — and he has begun to rise again in some polls, as Israelis rally behind a leader seen as the only Israeli politician who can stand up to the U.S.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the 2021 e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now updated with a new foreword. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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