The United States said yesterday that it has ended engaging in bilateral scientific and technological cooperation with settlements. It also denounced Israeli plans to expand settlements as well as Israeli settler violence against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. In a briefing, Matthew Miller, US State Department spokesman, said that ‘the State Department recently circulated foreign policy guidance to relevant agencies in the United States Government, advising that engaging in bilateral scientific and technological cooperation with Israel, in geographic areas which came under the administration of Israel after 1967 and which remain subject to final status negotiations, is inconsistent with US foreign policy.’ He added that ‘the guidance is reflective of the longstanding US position, going back decades – reaffirmed by this administration, that the ultimate disposition of the geographic areas which came under the administration of Israel after 1967 is a final status matter. Essentially, we are reverting to US policy to longstanding pre-2020 geographic limitations on US support for activities in those areas, a policy that goes back decades.’ The former Donald Trump administration violated the long-standing US policy and international consensus toward the occupied territories and recognized the settlements as part of Israel, instead of located in occupied territories, which is a violation of international law and United Nations resolutions. Three Israeli institutions will be affected by this, including Ariel University in the illegal settlement of Ariel built in the heart of the West Bank. Miller also said that the US is ‘deeply troubled’ by the Israeli Government’s decision to advance planning for over 4,000 settlement units in the West Bank, and by changes to Israel’s system of settlement administration that expedite the planning and approval of settlements. ‘As has been longstanding policy, the United States opposes such unilateral actions that make a two-state solution more difficult to achieve, and are an obstacle to peace, and we call on the Government of Israel to fulfill the commitments it made in Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh and return to dialogue aimed at de-escalation,’ he said. ‘We believe that settlements are an impediment to a negotiated two-state solution along 1967 lines, which ultimately we believe is the best way to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.’ Asked about Israeli settler terrorism against Palestinians in the West Bank, some of those affected were American citizens in the village of Turmus Ayya, including footballer Omar Qatin, who was killed in the attack, and Illinois state representative Abdelnasser Rashid, whose home was attacked with stones and barely escaped torching, Miller said that the US laments the loss of any civilian life and that it takes this matter very seriously. ‘We condemn all acts of extremist violence and incitement to violence, whether they be either Israel or Palestinian. And we remain steadfast in our work to promote de-escalation, and beyond this, an environment in which Israelis and Palestinians alike are afforded equal measures of security, prosperity, and dignity,’ he said. As for Israel allowing Palestinian Americans to travel through its airport in return for getting a visa waiver for its citizens, Miller said that steps fulfilling all the requirements of the Visa Waiver Program include extending reciprocal privileges to all US citizens and nationals, including Palestinian Americans, to travel to and through Israel.
Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA