State Dept Sends Senior Official to Pressure Israel on 2-State Solution

Hana Levi Julian8 Elul 5782 – September 3, 2022

Photo Credit: Executive Office of the President of the United States / public domain

Barbara A. Leaf, Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Security Council under President Joe Biden, 2021

The US State Department sent a senior official to Israel on Thursday to pressure the Jewish State into more concessions to “improve the quality of life for the Palestinian people” and to move closer to reaching the so-called “two-state solution.”

Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf arrived in Israel this past Thursday for a quick set of meetings with officials in Jerusalem and Ramallah before traveling on Saturday for a 24-hour visit to Jordan, another strong supporter of the two-state solution.

The State Department said in a statement to reporters that Leaf was meeting with Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials to discuss “a range of priorities, including the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, strengthening US cooperation with Israel and the Palestinian Authority, US interest in improving the quality of life for the Palestinian people, and the Administration’s continued support for a two-state solution.”

בכיר ישראלי שמעורה בפרטי הפגישות שקיימה ברברה ליף בישראל מסר בתגובה: ״המסר שהועבר מצידנו הוא שישראל תמשיך לפעול נגד הטרור בכל מקום שתתבקש״

— Moriah Asraf Wolberg (@MoriahAsraf) September 3, 2022
According to Israel’s Channel 13 News diplomatic correspondent Moriah Ashraf Wolberg, Leaf “expressed US fears over the possibility of an “escalation” in Judea and Samaria in the coming days.

“A security official who took part in the meetings with [Leaf] told us, ‘The Americans are very upset. The number of Palestinian deaths worries them, and they fear the dynamics in [Judea and Samaria] and the increased activities of the IDF will continue,” according to the report.

A senior Israeli official who was aware of the details of the meetings with Leaf added, “The message conveyed from our side is that Israel will continue to act against terrorism wherever [such action] is needed.”

According to Axios’ Barak Ravid, the US is trying to convince the Palestinian Authority leadership not to pursue a bid for full United Nations members at the UN Security Council.

Palestinian Authority officials have emphasized they intend to go through with the request, even though they know the United States – one of the five permanent members of the Security Council – will veto and block the move.