Second Look | What is your attitude towards the establishment of a Palestinian state? The logic of power that the United States has repeatedly opposed

On the issue of Palestine's "unification", the United States once again showed its true nature of "double standards." Following its "one-vote veto" in the United Nations Security Council in April, the United States recently voted against this issue. What is ironic is that the United States has repeatedly reiterated its support for the "two-state solution" simply because "the time has not come and the method does not suit its needs." What is the attitude of the United States towards the establishment of a Palestinian state? What is the underlying logic behind the "words and deeds" that keep voting against one after another?

Although the United States cast its only dissenting vote in the Security Council in April, which hindered Palestine's "union" process, it could not stop the mainstream voice of most countries in the world supporting the establishment of Palestinian statehood. Recently, the United Nations General Assembly held an emergency special session to review the issue of Palestine's "unification". Despite the opposition of a few countries such as the United States and Israel, the meeting still passed relevant resolutions and reiterated its support for the establishment of a 1967-state with East Jerusalem as its capital. An independent Palestinian state based on its borders. Public reports show that Palestine became a United Nations observer state in 2012. According to the United Nations Charter, new member states need to be recommended by the Security Council, and then the General Assembly makes a decision. Decisions of the Security Council require the consent of at least nine Security Council members and the non-objection of all five permanent members before they can be adopted.

Different results, same flavor, same recipe. As expected, the U.S. representative "repeated the same old tune" and repeated the reasons given in April. Excuses such as "Palestine is not ready yet" can't help but give people the illusion of "taking carrots lightly and not worrying about them". The United States once again reiterated its support for the "two-state solution", but it persisted in its own opinion for the ridiculous reason that Palestine's "unification" should first be negotiated with Israel rather than submitted to a vote in the United Nations. Zhang Chuchu, deputy director of the Center for Middle East Studies at Fudan University, observed that the United States' "inconsistency between words and deeds" around the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the issue of Palestine's "union" mainly has several characteristics. First, tie a no vote to negotiations. The implication is that as long as Israel does not agree, the issue of Palestinian statehood is almost out of the question. Secondly, at the critical stage of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, the United States, as the mediator, did not take an impartial stance to promote peace talks, but instead pressured Qatar to expel the leaders of Hamas. This move actually echoes Israel’s recent ban on Al Jazeera. The fundamental purpose is to cut off Hamas's retreat by putting pressure on Arab countries. Third, although the United States has verbally acknowledged its support for the "two-state solution," its recent series of actions have been to bypass the Palestinian-Israeli issue and instead seek reconciliation between other Arab countries and Israel. For example, Blinken’s seventh trip to the Middle East focused on mediating relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. This is in the same vein as the United States' previous promotion of the "Abraham Process" to normalize relations between the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and other countries and Israel, in order to isolate Palestine and Gaza.

Peace and stability in the Middle East is not an “inner drama” of the United States

There is a view that the United States still hopes for the establishment of a Palestinian state "in its heart", but Israel has not yet truly solved the Gaza issue and has not completely eradicated Hamas. It will only truly consider it after these two issues are resolved. The subtext is that joining the UN is just a matter of timing, and now is not the time. This is also the reason given by the United States on many occasions after voting against it. Zhang Chuchu believes that the United States has no intention of promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state. It is precisely because the United States believes that the "two-state solution" cannot be realized and does not intend to make substantive efforts to realize the "two-state solution" that it makes loud noises but says one thing but does another, and supports the "two-state solution". It is an empty slogan in the United States.

Zhang Chuchu said that the issue of Palestinian statehood is both sensitive and complex. If Palestine is recognized as a state, it will involve issues such as the ownership of Jerusalem and Jewish settlement issues. To solve these problems, the US president, who will not be in office for too long and faces huge pressure from the Jewish lobby, is mostly reluctant and thankless.

Although the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict has caused tremendous pressure from domestic and foreign public opinion on the United States, maintaining a good domestic and international image is not the White House's primary consideration in formulating policies. Zhang Chuchu said that the United States practices "alliance diplomacy" and always puts its own interests and the interests of its allies first. Seemingly insisting on favoring Israel under huge pressure, it also deliberately "shows off" to its Western allies, showing that the United States is willing to pay a certain price for its so-called "security commitments" to its allies.

The United States has repeatedly emphasized the "timing" issue of Palestinian statehood because in the eyes of the United States and Israel, promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state now would be tantamount to tacit acceptance of the "Aqsa Flood Operation" launched by Hamas. Therefore, the United States hopes to discuss Palestine Before addressing the issue of statehood, we must first let our ally Israel obtain "hands-on" battlefield or negotiation "results". Although Israel has already begun operations against Rafah in order to achieve the "results" of eradicating Hamas. But whether this idea is just wishful thinking remains to be tested by time. Previously, according to media sources citing Israeli sources, it would take at least two months for Israel to capture Rafah. A senior Hamas official also said that the Israeli army "has not eliminated more than 20% of its capabilities, whether in manpower or combat capability." Hamas is willing to make concessions, that is, by realizing the "two-state solution", it will lay down its weapons and A long truce was reached.

Considerations based on self-interest may be the underlying logic of the United States’ “discrepancy between words and deeds.” Zhang Chuchu said that the United States regards Israel's security as its core interest. An important reason is that Israel is an important starting point for the United States to intervene in the Middle East and influence the geopolitical pattern of the Middle East. As the region with the richest oil resources in the world, a united and stable Middle East is not in line with the core interests of the United States. Only by maintaining regional conflicts and low-intensity frictions and keeping major regional powers such as Iran and Saudi Arabia in a state of security anxiety can the United States profit. As a result, all countries need to strengthen their dependence on the United States. On the one hand, they import a large amount of arms from the United States, and on the other hand, they ensure that regional countries cooperate with the U.S. petrodollar circulation system.