U.S. to push for Palestinian state in coming weeks: report

The deal would include the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in eastern Jerusalem.

By World Israel News Staff

The Biden administration and its partners in the Arab world are preparing a detailed plan which would provide a timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state, which may be made public in the coming weeks.

According to a Washington Post report, the U.S. is first focusing on a hostage release deal which would see fighting between Israel and the Hamas terror group paused as captives are released from the Gaza Strip.

During that break in hostilities, which would last six weeks, Washington is planning to make its framework for long-term peace in the region.

The deal would include the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in eastern Jerusalem, and require the evacuation of numerous Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

In exchange, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries would normalize relations with Israel, and the international community would provide Israel with security guarantees.

It’s unlikely that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or his government would agree to such a deal.

“The most important power that has to remain in Israel’s hands is overriding security control in the area west of the Jordan” river, Netanyahu said in a recent interview with NBC News.

During a visit to Qatar last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that his negotiation efforts in the region were concentrated on nailing down “the substance and the sequence of all the steps” to create “a practical, timebound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace with Israel.”

The European Union is “reaching out … to see how we can work together to have a larger plan that actually focuses on getting to the end of the conflict,” Sven Koopmans, the E.U. special representative for the Middle East peace process, told the Post.

“That’s an actual peace process that wants to get to an independent, fully recognized Palestinian state and a secure state of Israel fully integrated in the region. Is that feasible? It’s extremely difficult, but in the absence of any other plan, we are interested in pursuing this.”