In a significant development, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has instructed the State Department to explore policy alternatives concerning the potential recognition of a Palestinian state in the aftermath of the Gaza conflict, according to U.S. officials who spoke to Axios.
The State Department is reportedly weighing various options that could pave the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state. These include the bilateral recognition of Palestine, refraining from using its veto power to prevent the United Nations Security Council from admitting Palestine as a full UN member state, and encouraging other nations to recognize Palestine.
While US officials insist that there has been no policy shift, the State Department's consideration of these alternatives suggests a change within the Biden administration's stance on the sensitive issue of Palestinian statehood recognition, which carries significant implications both globally and domestically.
For decades, U.S. policy has opposed the bilateral and United Nations-based recognition of Palestine as a state, asserting that direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are the only feasible route to achieving Palestinian statehood.
However, according to U.S. officials, Blinken has now asked the State Department to investigate several key issues, including the potential recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a postwar strategy.
A senior U.S. official suggested that the Biden administration's diplomatic efforts between Israel and Saudi Arabia could facilitate this recognition.
The Biden administration is linking the establishment of a Palestinian state to the potential normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. This approach builds on the administration's previous attempts to broker a peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia before the Palestinian Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7.
Since October 7, Saudi officials have publicly and privately insisted that the creation of an "irrevocable" pathway towards a Palestinian state is a prerequisite for any future normalization agreement with Israel.
A senior U.S. official revealed that some within the Biden administration are now contemplating that the recognition of a Palestinian state might be the initial step, rather than the final one, in negotiations to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Blinken has also asked for an analysis of what a demilitarized Palestinian state might look like in comparison to other global models, according to U.S. officials.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously proposed the idea of a demilitarized Palestine several times between 2009 and 2015, but has not mentioned it recently. According to a U.S. official, this analysis is intended to explore potential strategies for implementing a two-state solution that would safeguard Israel's security.
However, the U.S. official emphasized that Secretary Blinken has not yet approved any policy changes. A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council told Axios that "it has been longstanding US policy that any recognition of a Palestinian state must come through direct negotiations between the parties rather than through unilateral recognition at the UN. That policy has not changed."
This development follows an announcement by British Foreign Minister David Cameron on Monday that the United Kingdom is considering recognizing Palestinian statehood as part of its postwar strategy.
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