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How the PA Should Approach the Biden Administration

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Mohammed Dajani - For progress to occur, the Palestinian leadership must not take Biden for granted. The PA should not seek to force the president's hand with a long list of demands. Generally, the PA should begin to approach their political leverage in the region more realistically. The Palestinian leadership vehemently opposed Israeli normalization with the UAE, but only succeeded in creating enmity between the PA and Gulf governments who otherwise ardently support their cause. It would be a blunder for the PA leadership to continue opposing the normalization policy. Moreover, the PA needs to understand that Palestinian interests suffer severely from the kind of direct collisions with the U.S. that happened under both the Obama and Trump administrations. In avoiding such collisions, the PA should stop pushing for the maximalist UN resolution and develop a coherent, realistic peace plan that considers both sides' interests and security concerns. Most importantly, popular attitudes and civil society will have to bend towards peace. If leaders are unwilling to engage in negotiations or final status talks, it likely means their constituents are not pressuring them to do so. In that case, there is not much the Biden administration can do. The writer, a fellow at The Washington Institute, founded the Wasatia movement of moderate Islam and previously worked as a professor of political science at al-Quds University in Jerusalem.
2021-01-28 00:00:00
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