Blinken, Lapid meet in Rome amid reset U.S.-Israel relations

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

ROME — Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will meet in Rome on Sunday as their new governments look to turn the page on former President Donald Trump and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose close alliance aggravated partisan divisions within both countries.

Now, with Trump sidelined in Florida and Netanyahu leading the opposition, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett are focused on pragmatic diplomacy rather than dramatic initiatives that risk fomenting opposition at home or distracting from other priorities.

That means aiming for smaller achievements, such as shoring up the informal cease-fire that ended last month’s war with Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers and replenishing Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. A major push to revive the long-dormant peace process between Israel and the Palestinians could unsettle the delicate balance.

“Nobody thinks it’s a good idea to start charging through on a major new peace initiative,” said Ilan Goldenberg, a Mideast security expert at the nonprofit Center for a New American Security. “But there are things you can do quietly under the radar, on the ground, to improve the situation.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/27/israel-blinken-lapid-biden-netanyahu-496477

[ananda]

1. This is so good.

Nice to have sane adults working for good.

[IronLionZion]

2. I'm cautiously optimistic

since I believe Netanyahu's actions were a desperate bid to cling to power. Bennett's views are arguably more right wing but his actions may be less dramatic. We'll see.

“But there are things you can do quietly under the radar, on the ground, to improve the situation.” is often the only way that works in the middle east.

[McKim]

3. I Hope it Means Change for Palestinians!

I hope this means change for the Palestinians. We are paying for those Israeli bombs.

[EX500rider]

4. Hamas will have to change their Charter before any meaningful peace is possible.

Rejection of a Negotiated Peace Settlement:

-------------------------------------------

'[Peace] initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and

international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of

the Islamic Resistance Movement... Those conferences are no more than

a means to appoint the infidels as arbitrators in the lands of

Islam... There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by

Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are but a

waste of time, an exercise in futility.' (Article 13)

[McKim]

5. Peace?

Peace? I was just hoping for enough medicines and foods to get into Gaza and some reconstruction there and relief.