The US ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, said that the West Bank is causing me a "tremendous amount of anxiety", in an interview with the American "The Hill" website, which was published by the site on Tuesday, September 27. 2022 .
Nides said that regional security officials and observers warn that the explosion of conflict between the Palestinians and Israel in the West Bank is "rapidly approaching," noting that "I may spend more time on issues related to the Palestinians, I would say I spend 60 % of my time on Palestinian [issues]." .
It is noteworthy that the Biden administration, which has not launched any new peace initiative since coming to the White House, has resumed aid to the Palestinians cut by former President Donald Trump, and US President Biden announced during his visit to the occupied West Bank last July about an additional $100 million in American support. For the network of hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem, which largely treat Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"The goal is to help the Palestinian people live a better life, which in turn will lead to the strengthening of Israel by reducing the risk of violence against Israelis," Nides said in his interview with the American website.
On his relationship with the Palestinians, Nides said: “The Palestinians know we are their best friends — the closest friends who have money, right?... I think they think we want to help them... And they want, of course, a roadmap to peace, but, you know, I wake up. Every day trying to figure out how we can improve their lives a little bit... It has to move gradually on that, but that´s what we´re trying to do."
Nides explained that his position and goal "first and foremost, the security of the State of Israel is the first thing we focus on, but also, we do not want to kill innocent people and we do not want the course to get out of control, which is what we have seen repeatedly; we are trying to stop the course before it gets out of control." the control".
The site says that Nides´ focus on the Palestinians is the source of the few cracks in the relationship between the United States and Israel. Although the Biden administration did not resist Israel’s demands to keep the US consulate in Jerusalem closed, even though it served as a de facto embassy for the Palestinians, Nides asserted that “the staff of the 70 employees who work from that building (the consulate building) but under the name “Office of Affairs” In essence, the Palestinians constitute the consulate.
“We still want to open it, Minister Blinken has spoken to [Israeli Prime Minister Yair] Lapid a few times, and we want to keep pressure on him...It (the consulate) is fully functional, but you know, the symbolism is important and we want to open it,” Nides added.
And about the Palestinian human rights organizations that Israel has closed and included on the list of terrorism, Nides said that they "were dissatisfied with us because we did not strongly announce in support of the moves they took."
The American pressure on Israel to exercise “accountability” for the killing of the Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Aqleh, is another painful point for the American ambassador, Nides, who said: “We cannot force Israel to do what it should do, As it is a sovereign country, but to say ´must look at your rules of engagement, ´We hold that position,´" he said, adding that it was the same standard as the United States.
