US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called out Israeli policies, including settlement expansion and home demolitions, as detrimental to the two-state solution. According to Blinken, the United States will continue to oppose anything that puts that goal further from reach, including but not limited to settlement expansion and the legalization of illegal outposts, moves towards the annexation of the West Bank, disruption to the historic status quo on Jerusalem’s holy sites, demolitions and evictions and incitement and acquiescence to violence. Interestingly, after having said all that Blinken returned to America’s traditional policy regarding the Palestine dispute and reiterated Washington’s ironclad commitment to Israel.
The recent hazy criticism of Israeli policies by the Chief Diplomat of the Biden administration is only a smoke screen to satisfy Palestinians and draw a parallel between Israeli atrocities and settlements in the west bank and Gaza vis-a-vis a trivial Palestinian armed resistance to divert global pressure from Tel Aviv. Otherwise, President Joe Biden, a self-proclaimed Zionist had largely betrayed his Arab and Muslim voters by notwithstanding his pledges regarding upholding human rights, not allowing annexation and settlements, reversal of the US Embassy to Tel Aviv, and reopening the US Consulate in East Jerusalem, etc. Unfortunately, the vocal supporter of human rights across the world had turned a blind eye to mass religious and human rights violations by the Israeli regime during his term in the White House over the past two years.
Historically, America had been a vocal supporter of the Jewish state and categorically put its weight on Tel Aviv’s side since the early 1960s, after John F. Kennedy revoked the arms embargo on Israel in 1961 and boost security and trade ties with the Jewish state. The US’s substantial support for Isreal remained crucial for Israel in garnering diplomatic and security assistance from the west over the past decades. Similarly, the UN was a hot arena for Israel because of its recurrent violations of UN resolutions and global laws but America practically rendered this most effective global forum into a void tool by regular use of the veto power to bulldoze anti-Israel UNSC legislation. America’s unlawful, unhindered, and biased support to Israel did not limit only to the UN, but Washington blindly favored Tel Aviv at the International Human Rights Council and International Criminal Court (ICC) by restricting investigations into Israel’s war crimes and human rights abuses along with sanctioning of ICC executives for their work agaisnt the Jewish state. Although, US’s unjust support for Israel damaged American interests globally, but American leaders did not alter their course because of the influential Jewish lobby in the US.
The reports suggest that the Biden administration not only carry on with Trump’s biased, unilateral, and pro-Israel policies but also enhanced US’s aid to Israel along with cosmetic measures to satisfy Palestinians and Arab League. In fact, the State of Israel has ever violated the historic status quo, intensified its ethnic cleansing and apartheid policies, and blatantly breached the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in recent months. Whereas, the guarantors of global peace downplayed Israel’s misconduct and tried to integrate the Jewish state into the middle East through muffled criticism and masked diplomacy. How global peace can be ensured through tinted postulations and designed wandering.
