{"id":64402,"date":"2018-04-30T06:44:30","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T06:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=64402"},"modified":"2018-04-30T06:44:30","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T06:44:30","slug":"pompeo-palestinians-nothing-discuss-amid-gaza-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/pompeo-palestinians-nothing-discuss-amid-gaza-crisis.html","title":{"rendered":"Pompeo and Palestinians Have ‘Nothing to Discuss’ Amid Gaza Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pompeo and Palestinians Have ‘Nothing to Discuss’ Amid Gaza Crisis<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

TEL AVIV, Israel \u2014 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came to Israel Sunday in the midst of the worst crisis in relations between Israelis and Palestinians in years, but he did not meet a single Palestinian representative and mentioned them publicly once.<\/span><\/p>\n

For decades, American diplomats saw themselves as brokers between the two sides, and secretaries of state typically met Palestinian representatives on regional tours like this one. When relations between the two sides deteriorated, the United States sought to bridge the divide.<\/span><\/p>\n

No more.<\/span><\/p>\n

No one at the State Department called Palestinian leaders to ask for a get-together with Mr. Pompeo, according to Palestinian officials. And that may be because the Americans knew the answer they would have gotten: No.<\/span><\/p>\n

Infuriated by President Trump\u2019s decision in December to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, paving the way for the United States to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested holy city, Palestinian leaders have cut off political contacts with the Trump administration. They say the White House can no longer be considered an honest broker in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing to discuss,\u201d said Xavier Abu Eid, a senior official of the Palestine Liberation Organization\u2019s Negotiations Affairs Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a remarks Sunday in Tel Aviv while standing next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Pompeo mentioned that the boundaries of Jerusalem should still be the subject of negotiations between the parties. \u201cWe remain committed to achieving a lasting and comprehensive peace that offers a brighter future for both Israel and the Palestinians,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the escalating protests along the border between Gaza and Israel \u2014 which have led to hundreds of injuries and 46 deaths and have generated global sympathy for the Palestinian cause \u2014 went unmentioned.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo meeting in Ramallah on his first visit sets an ominous tone about prospects for any progress, or even dialogue, with the Palestinians,\u201d said Daniel B. Shapiro, an American ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aaron David Miller, a former negotiator for the United States in the Middle East, said Mr. Pompeo\u2019s seeming indifference toward the Palestinians \u201cat the very least suggests a casual disregard of the Israeli-Palestinian explosion that may be building and the U.S.\u2019s inability or unwillingness to influence the course of events.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of discussing the Palestinian issue, Mr. Pompeo\u2019s focused message on his sweep through the region has been a denunciation of Iran. He met with Saudi leaders on Saturday and Sunday morning, and they all agreed that Iran is a destabilizing force. He met on Sunday afternoon with Mr. Netanyahu, who blistered Iran alongside Mr. Pompeo.<\/span><\/p>\n

And on Monday, he is scheduled to meet King Abdullah of Jordan in Amman, when Iran is again likely to be the most important subject of conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

In two weeks, Mr. Trump is expected to walk away from the Iran nuclear accord, which he has denounced as \u201cthe worst ever.\u201d Countering Iran has become one of the few unambiguous policy themes of the administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump and his advisers disagree on how to confront Moscow. A potential trade war with China has caused deep unease across the Midwest. The administration\u2019s policy on Syria is in flux. And North Korea\u2019s leader, Kim Jong-un, is suddenly looking like a statesman.<\/span><\/p>\n

But there is consensus that Iran needs to be opposed, and Mr. Pompeo hammered away at them Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain deeply concerned about Iran\u2019s dangerous escalation of threats to Israel and the region, and Iran\u2019s ambition to dominate the Middle East remains,\u201d Mr. Pompeo said beside a delighted Mr. Netanyahu. \u201cThe United States is with Israel in this fight. And we strongly support Israel\u2019s sovereign right to defend itself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As for the nuclear accord, \u201cPresident Trump made it pretty clear: This deal is very flawed,\u201d Mr. Pompeo said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s directed the administration to try to fix it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if we can\u2019t fix it, he\u2019s going to withdraw from the deal. It\u2019s pretty straightforward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Netanyahu agreed. \u201cMr. Secretary,\u201d he said, \u201cI think the greatest threat to the world and to our two countries \u2014 and to all countries \u2014 is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons, and specifically the attempt of Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

United States officials and international inspectors agree that Iran is abiding by the nuclear deal, which has substantially degraded the country\u2019s ability to pursue nuclear weapons. Iranian officials have said the country may restart its nuclear program if the United States withdraws from the nuclear accord.<\/span><\/p>\n

On May 14, the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Israel, the United States will formally open its embassy in Jerusalem, and a host of American dignitaries are expected. Mr. Trump has suggested he may come.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that opening also coincides with the time that Palestinian protests are expected to crest, coming on the eve of the Palestinian commemoration of the Nakba, or \u201ccatastrophe,\u201d when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled or fled their homes and became refugees during the hostilities surrounding Israel\u2019s creation in 1948.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first senior American official to feel the Palestinians\u2019 furor over the Jerusalem decision was Vice President Mike Pence, who postponed what was expected to be an emotional visit over the Christmas holidays after several Christian leaders in the region refused to meet him. When he finally made it in January, the Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, boycotted him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since nothing has been done to assuage the Palestinians in the meantime, Mr. Pompeo could have expected the same treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe refused to see Mr. Pence twice,\u201d said Nabil Shaath, an Abbas adviser on international relations. He added: \u201cWe have declared our position and we don\u2019t accept an American role in unilaterally controlling the peace process. To us, Trump is irrelevant, whether he announces the deal of the century or not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Monday, the Palestine National Council, the P.L.O.\u2019s legislative body, is scheduled to hold its first formal meeting in nine years. If Mr. Pompeo had a strategy to bridge the divide, he could hardly have picked a better moment to address the movement\u2019s leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, he will fly home Monday after seeing King Abdullah.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/04\/29\/world\/middleeast\/mike-pompeo-israel-palestinians.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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