David Schenker is the Taube Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics. He is the former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.
Articles & Testimony
Despite the Iran-Israel showdown, if European and Arab states prove they are willing to do the diplomatic and financial heavy lifting required for progress with the Palestinians, the reticent Trump administration might be encouraged to engage.
On Friday, it was reported that next week’s planned UN conference in New York to resolve the Palestine-Israel conflict had been postponed following Israel’s military strike on Iran. Originally, the meeting had been envisioned as an opportunity for several UN member states—including some permanent UN Security Council members—to recognise Palestinian statehood. That ambitious agenda has apparently been scaled back, however, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres now indicating that the objective is “to keep the two-state solution alive.” Not surprisingly, Washington won’t attend the now-postponed UN confab. It’s not that President Trump necessarily opposes Palestinian statehood. Rather, it seems his administration is largely disinterested...
