Latest Developments
During a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah on Tuesday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israel for an escalation in violence between Palestinians and Israelis in recent months. Abbas told Blinken during a press conference on Tuesday that “unilateral Israeli actions” violate signed agreements and international law and that Israel’s presence in the West Bank is the chief impediment to peace.
The meeting came just days after a Palestinian terrorist killed seven Israelis outside of a synagogue in east Jerusalem. According to Axios, Blinken privately pressured Abbas to adopt a security plan drafted by American Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel that outlines steps for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to re-establish security in the West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus.
Expert Analysis
“The only constants across the tenures of three successive Israeli prime ministers are a rise in terror activity in the West Bank and either an unwillingness or an inability by the Palestinian Authority to crack down on terrorism. The violence we’re seeing today grew under a centrist Israeli government that counted an Arab party as a member, not in response to any domestic policy by the new Israeli government.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor