Report: Thomas Friedman: Biden is adopting a new approach that includes a strong push towards a demilitarized Palestinian state.

Journalist Thomas Friedman said that the administration of US President Joe Biden is adopting a new approach that includes a plan that includes a strong push towards establishing a demilitarized, but immediately viable, Palestinian state. He stressed that such a tendency did not exist previously.

Friedman added, in the context of a report published in the New York Times yesterday (Thursday), that the plan will include a form of American recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which will not be formed until after the Palestinians develop a set of specific security institutions and capabilities. It has the credibility to ensure the continuation of this state, and to ensure that it can never threaten Israel.

He also revealed that White House officials are consulting with experts inside and outside the US administration regarding the multiple forms that this recognition of a Palestinian state could take.

Biden's new approach, which Friedman describes as a doctrine, will include strengthening US relations with Saudi Arabia, along with normalizing relations between Riyadh and Jerusalem, and maintaining a tough military stance against Iran and its proxies in the region. It was noted in the report that before the Hamas movement’s attack on the Gaza envelope area [southern Israel] on October 7, 2023, Riyadh was seeking security guarantees from Washington, as well as assistance in a civilian nuclear program that includes uranium enrichment as part of a Normalization deal with Israel. 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken last January that he was ready to normalize relations with Israel as part of efforts to rebuild the Gaza Strip after the war, according to what was reported by two American officials who also confirmed that he conditioned normalization on taking practical Israeli steps towards the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Friedman wrote: “The Hamas attack on Israel appears to be forcing the Biden administration to fundamentally rethink the Middle East region. If the administration is able to achieve this, which is huge, the Biden doctrine could become the largest strategic realignment” in the region since the Camp David Treaty [between Israel and Egypt] in 1979.”

He, who is close to Biden and has been accustomed to publishing messages to Israel through his corner in the newspaper recently, also indicated that this emerging doctrine will include an escalating American campaign against Iran, including a strict military response to the killing of 3 American soldiers this week.

On the other hand, Friedman stressed that Israel is not achieving victory in the war in the Gaza Strip because of the damage it has suffered on the global scene. He also stressed the fact that it does not have a realistic plan for who will rule the Strip after the war.

His article comes a day after a report was issued on the Axios website, quoting two high-ranking American officials as saying that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken asked the State Department to review the policies available to the United States on the issue of a Palestinian state and present them for discussion.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, during a press conference held the day before yesterday (Wednesday), downplayed the report, but at the same time stressed that the administration is actually seeking to establish an independent Palestinian state with real security guarantees for Israel, because it believes that this step is considered better means to achieve lasting peace and security for Israel, the Palestinians and the entire region. He also stressed that this has been the United States' position for a long time, and does not represent a shift in policy.

Miller said: “There is no shift in the administration’s policy. We have made clear publicly that we support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, and this has been the policy of the United States for some time, and this is the policy of the current administration.”

It should also be noted that this news comes after the announcement of a phone conversation between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, after which Biden expressed his hope that a two-state solution could be achieved even with Netanyahu in office if the Palestinian state were demilitarized. A CNN report the next day indicated that Netanyahu told Biden that he did not completely rule out the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The American Wall Street Journal also reported that the United States, Egypt and Qatar are pressuring Israel and Hamas to accept a comprehensive plan that would end the war, release the kidnapped Israelis detained in Gaza, and ultimately lead to full normalization of Israel with its neighbors and talks to establish a Palestinian state. .