PA wrong to pin hopes on Biden, Palestinians warn

Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other extremist factions have expressed opposition to Abbas’s intention to resume peace talks with Israel and engage with a Biden administration.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
THEN-VICE PRESIDENT Joe Biden gestures as he walks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after their meeting in Ramallah in 2010. (photo credit: REUTERS)
THEN-VICE PRESIDENT Joe Biden gestures as he walks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after their meeting in Ramallah in 2010.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Palestinian leadership is wrong to pin high hopes on a new US administration under President-elect Joe Biden, Palestinians warned on Monday.
A senior Palestinian Authority official told The Jerusalem Post that he “does not understand why some Palestinian officials are so enthusiastic” about a Biden administration.
“So far, we haven’t received any messages from the Biden team about a possible change in US policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the official told the Post.
According to the official, it will take months before the Palestinians find out “in what direction a Biden administration is planning to move.”
It would be more helpful, the official said, “to focus on achieving Palestinian national unity and strengthening our alliance with the Arab world instead of living under an illusion that Biden would be able to solve our problem.”
A veteran PLO official, speaking to the Post, also warned against “excessive optimism” over a Biden administration.
“Biden will be better than [US President Donald] Trump,” the official remarked. “But that does not mean that there will be a fundamental change in US policy toward the conflict. Frankly, I don’t see much of a difference between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to the Palestinians.”
The Palestinian leadership has received indications from the Biden team that the new US administration would publicly support the two-state solution – an idea that seemed to have been abandoned by the Trump administration, the official said. “In any case, what’s clear is that no US administration has demanded that Israel fully withdraw to the 1967 borders.”
Palestinian officials have in recent weeks said that they are looking forward to working with a Biden administration. The PA has been boycotting the US administration since December 2017, when Trump decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas is hoping that a Biden administration would support his initiative to convene an international conference for peace in the Middle East, Palestinian sources said. He is also expecting the new US administration to reverse some of the decisions taken by the Trump administration, including the closure of the PLO diplomatic mission in Washington and the US consulate in east Jerusalem.
In addition, Abbas is hoping that a Biden administration would resume financial aid to the PA and the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees.
The sources pointed out that Abbas has won the backing of Egypt and Jordan for his initiative and is hoping that other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, would follow suit.
In messages to the Biden team and some Arab leaders, Abbas has indicated his willingness to resume peace negotiations with Israel, the sources said. Abbas, however, insists that the renewed talks be held under the umbrella of the United Nations, the European Union and other international parties, the sources added.
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other extremist factions have expressed opposition to Abbas’s intention to resume peace talks with Israel and engage with a Biden administration.
They have also opposed Abbas’s recent decision to restore security and civil relations with Israel, five months after he announced that the Palestinians are “absolved” of all agreements and understandings with Israel and the US.
“The Palestinian leadership needs to be careful about its expectations from a Biden administration,” said Palestinian political analyst Hisham Saleh. “Some people in the Palestinian Authority are behaving as if Biden is a pro-Palestinian guy.
They need to wake up.”
Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, said that the PA leadership’s “betting on Biden would soon prove to be wrong.”
Qassem said he did not expect Biden to change Washington’s policy toward Jerusalem.
The PLO’s Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) called on the PA leadership to “deal with extreme caution” with Biden and to lower its expectations from the next US administration. The DFLP noted that Biden has not made any promise to change Washington’s policies or decisions taken by the Trump administration.
Mohammed al-Hindi, a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad official also warned the PA leadership against pinning hopes on Biden. Hindi said he even expected Biden to endorse some of Trump’s policies toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Joe Biden may be a good president for the American people, but who said he’s good for the Palestinians and Arabs?” said a former PA minister. “For the Americans, there is a difference between Republicans and Democrats. For the Palestinians, who have a bitter experience with US presidents, there is really no real difference.”