From Washington to Palestine, US Fails Public Trust; Normalization under Fire [Part I]

Gaza-Israel war amid normalization efforts is the latest example of a series of policymaking processes that Washington has failed to consider the public will inside and outside the United States.

A “more viable, interwoven Middle East” was mentioned by US President in his address to the globe at the UN General Assembly in September. Israel benefits from “greater normalization and economic connection” under the new arrangement.

That idea seems to downgrade the Israeli-Palestinian crisis to a secondary issue. A supposedly stable status quo had been maintained in Palestinian regions like the West Bank and Gaza thanks to a military rule, technologically assisted monitoring, fences, and checkpoints.

According to analysts, this has made it possible for Israel and the US, its most important partner, to mostly disregard the misery of Palestinian people and focus on other matters.
Israel and the Biden administration have been collaborating on a variety of issues. Reservations about Tehran and its nuclear program were included, along with a diplomatic agreement with Saudi Arabia and a commerce corridor between India and Europe.

But four days ago, the Palestinian organization Hamas staged a well-planned onslaught against Israel, upsetting the balance of power in the area. Israel lost hundreds of lives as a result of the onslaught, which originated in the impoverished Gaza Strip.

It’s not simply a blind area, either. The US has been treating the notion of Arab-Israeli normalization as if there has never been a Palestinian issue, which is dream land. The Palestinian issue must not be averted, several scholars and regional leaders have said.

Several renowned human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have charged Israel with creating an apartheid regime against the Palestinian people.

No Peace without Palestine

Jordan’s King Abdullah addressed the UN last month that “no architecture for regional security and development can stand over the burning ashes of this conflict.”

However, the Biden office has continued to disentangle its more general Middle East policy from Palestinian desires for a self-sustaining state.

Israel was just accepted into the US’s exclusive visa waiver program. The decision has been seen by some as a political favor for Israeli Prime Minister’s administration. Another significant goal that Biden and his advisers were pursuing was normalization with Saudi Arabia.

Since Israel’s founding in 1948, only a small number of Arab countries have recognized it. However, the government of former US President was instrumental in securing the Abraham Accords, a set of accords, three years ago. The accords created official ties between Israel and Bahrain, Morocco, and the UAE.

In response to Trump’s insistence, Sudan also decided to normalize relations with Tal Aviv. The new administration in Washington has been attempting to increase the number of nations eager to establish ties with Israel.

His government has also taken delight in forging regional alliances. For instance, the US promoted communication between Israel and Arab nations including Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, and the UAE during the Negev Forum earlier in 2023.

The US-mediated agreements have been rejected by Palestinian leadership.

In the past, the vast majority of Arab governments have made establishing relations with Israel contingent upon attaining Palestinian rights as outlined in the Arab Peace Initiative.

Authorities in the Biden office, though, have maintained that by supporting Trump’s call for normalization, Washington is enhancing regional security.