Palestinians urge Biden to appoint Mideast peace envoy

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Palestinian officials on Sunday expressed satisfaction with the US administration’s renewed commitment to a two-state solution and called for the appointment of a special American envoy for peace in the Middle East.

The Biden administration believes “a negotiated two-state solution is the best way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” US State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter said Friday.

It “has also made clear on numerous occasions that Israelis and Palestinians alike equally deserve to live in security, prosperity and freedom,” she said during a briefing.

“On equality, we’ve said this before that advancing equal measures of freedom and dignity is important in its own right and as a means to advance toward a negotiated two-state solution,” she added. “We’ll continue to focus our efforts on an affirmative and practical approach that is constructive [and] positive steps that help us keep the possibility of a negotiated two-state solution alive.”

Porter’s remarks about the US commitment to a two-state solution came days after the Palestinian Authority criticized Washington for its failure to fulfill promises made to the Palestinians by President Joe Biden. These promises include, among other things, a US commitment to work toward achieving a two-state solution and the reopening of the US Consulate in Jerusalem, which was closed in 2018 by the administration of former President Donald Trump.

Ahmad Majdalani, a PA cabinet minister and member of the PLO Executive Committee, welcomed Porter’s remarks and called on the Biden administration to appoint a special envoy for peace in the Middle East to revive the stalled peace process between the Palestinians and Israel.

The Palestinians were satisfied with the State Department’s position toward a two-state solution, which came while the US is preoccupied with the Russia-Ukraine war, he told the PA’s Voice of Palestine radio station.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-701810