Initial talk of Biden “reavenue”109 US-Palestinian relations quickly returned to the status quo,
with no backtracking on Trump’s widely criticized move to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli
capital, and no withdrawal of US recognition of Israel’s annexation of the Syrian Golan
Heights. Talk of reopening the US consulate in east Jerusalem and reopening the Palestinian
Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington, both closed by Trump in an effort to
further Palestinian diplomatic isolation, has so far remained just talk due to US reluctance
to move without Israeli cooperation.110 Additionally, the Biden Administration requested
$3.3 billion in foreign military financing for Israel and $500 million in missile defence aid
for the fiscal year of 2022.111 The US Congress is also considering several bills that would
provide $1 billion in additional aid for Israel’s Iron Dome over the span of 3 years.112 Biden’s
administration also remains staunchly opposed to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)
movement and to the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation in Palestine,113 in
a blanket rejection of any measures initiated by Palestinians to effectively challenge Israel.
International diplomatic efforts to draw attention to Israeli crimes, such as through an openended UN Commission of Inquiry, have been cited by the Biden administration as examples
of the “unfair singling out”114 of Israel.
106
Ibid.
Ibid.
108
Al Jazeera, ‘Israeli forces kill Palestinian youth near Ramallah in West Bank’ (Al Jazeera, 8 September 2022) <https://
www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/8/israeli-forces-kill-palestinian-man-near-ramallah-in-west-bank> accessed 3
October 2022.
109
Al Jazeera, ‘Biden Administration Crafting Plan to Reset US-Palestinian Ties’ (Al Jazeera, 18 March 2021) <https://
www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/18/biden-administration-crafting-plan-to-reset-us-palestinian-ties> accessed 3
October 2022.
110
Mohammad Al-Kassim, ‘Palestinians Have Little Hope for Major Breakthrough During Biden Visit’ (The Media Line,
4 July 2022) <https://themedialine.org/top-stories/palestinians-have-little-hope-for-major-breakthrough-duringbiden-visit/> accessed 3 October 2022.
111
Jeremy M. Sharp, ‘U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel’ (Congressional Research Service, 18 February 2022) <https://crsreports.
congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL33222> accessed 3 October 2022.
112
Ibid.
113
Noura Erakat, ‘Biden's early Israel policies show he won't be much better for Palestinians than Trump’ (NBC News,
9 February 2021) <https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/biden-s-early-israel-policies-show-he-won-t-bencna1257146> accessed 3 October 2022.
114
Ned Price ‘The UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on the Situation in Israel, the West Bank, and
Gaza’ (U.S. Department of State, 7 June 2022) <https://www.state.gov/the-un-human-rights-councils-commission-ofinquiry-on-the-situation-in-israel-the-west-bank-and-gaza/> accessed 3 October 2022.
107
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Jerusalem, east of the Israeli Apartheid Wall, to call their capital.106 Though Biden announced
that the “ground is not ripe at this moment” to restart negotiations, his insistence that two
states for two people “both of whom have deep and ancient roots to this land, living side by
side, and peace and security”107 further reflects the US’s legacy in whitewashing Israel’s colonial
history, depicting the violent colonial-apartheid regime of the Israeli state and the legitimate
Palestinian resistance that opposes it as an equally-sided, religious misunderstanding. He also
claimed that it is “heart-wrenching” for the US “that so many Palestinians and Israelis have
lost their lives just this year”, conveniently disregarding the fact that as of, 8 September 2022,
140 Palestinians, including 25 children, have been killed by Israel.108