The Joe Biden administration is working out plans to boost its diplomatic outreach to the Palestinians and will soon appoint a special representative at the US State Department, according to the Times of Israel.
The White House will promote Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr to a special envoy role to spearhead the efforts, the Times reported on Sunday, citing multiple unnamed US and Palestinian officials. As envoy, the official will work alongside the Palestinian Affairs Unit which currently exists under the US Embassy in Israel.
Though the State Department previously signaled that it would reopen the US Consulate in Jerusalem after former President Donald Trump shuttered the facility – the de facto diplomatic office for US-Palestinian relations – that plan has been “effectively shelved” since late last year. Diplomats told the Times in December that a final decision had not been made on the matter, but it appears little progress has been made since.
Sunday’s report is not the first sign the Biden team could be seeking a reset with the Palestinian leadership following an overtly hostile Trump administration, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently proposing ways to bring Ramallah into future normalization deals with Tel Aviv under the purview of the Abraham Accords – a series of agreements reached between Israel and a number of regional rivals beginning in 2020.
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