Axios reported today, Wednesday, that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has asked officials in his department to conduct a review and present political options regarding potential U.S. and international recognition of a Palestinian state following the end of the war in Gaza. Two U.S. officials familiar with the matter told Axios that the State Department is examining such options, indicating "a shift in thinking within the Biden administration regarding the potential recognition of a Palestinian state." This is a highly sensitive issue at both the international and local levels.
An American official mentioned that the efforts to find a diplomatic exit from the war in Gaza "have opened the door to rethinking many old U.S. models and policies." He added: "Some within the Biden administration now believe that recognition of the Palestinian state should perhaps be the first step in negotiations to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rather than the last step." Axios explained: "For decades, U.S. policy has been to oppose recognition of Palestine as a state, either bilaterally or in United Nations institutions, insisting that a Palestinian state should only come about through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority."
