U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Wednesday that the unrest in the West Bank, characterized by rising violence between Jewish settlers and Palestinians, makes it "much harder, if not impossible," for Israel to achieve its goal of normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia. When asked whether the diminishing hopes for the establishment of a Palestinian state, given factors such as Israeli settlement expansion and the recent increase in violence in the West Bank, have complicated Israel's normalization of relations with neighboring countries, Blinken mentioned that this issue was part of his discussions with Israeli officials.
Blinken made these remarks during a Council on Foreign Relations event in New York. He added, "We told our friends and allies in Israel that having fires burning in their backyard will complicate deepening and expanding existing agreements," noting that he discussed this with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Tuesday. He continued, "From our perspective, at least as Israel's closest friend and ally, this is not in their interest for two reasons: the difficulty it adds to the efforts for normalization agreements, or to bolster them, and the consequences of that process."
This week, the Biden administration objected to an Israeli decision to authorize the construction of new settlements, which is the latest action from the ruling coalition composed of religious and nationalist parties, despite appeals from Washington not to inflame the already rising tensions.
