US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that a sovereign and democratic Palestinian state is that the “best way” to make sure Israel’s future.
“We must seek a way forward for greater peace and security for all people of the center East,” Biden said during a speech to the UN General Assembly.
“The commitment of the US to Israel’s security is without question and our support for an independent Jewish state is unequivocal,” he said.
“But I still believe that a two-state solution is that the best thanks to ensuring Israel’s future as a Jewish democratic state, living in peace alongside a viable, sovereign, and democratic Palestinian state,” he said.
“We’re an extended way from that goal at this moment but we should always never allow ourselves to offer abreast of the likelihood of progress. “
In his speech, Biden planned out a replacement era of vigorous competition without a replacement conflict despite China’s ascendance, promising military restraint, and a strong fight against global climate change.
The US will help resolve crises from Iran to Korea to Ethiopia, Biden told the annual UNGA gathering.
The world faces a “decisive decade”, Biden said, one during which leaders must work together to combat a raging coronavirus pandemic, global climate change and cyber threats. He said the US will double its financial commitment on climate aid and spend $10 billion to fight hunger.
Biden didn’t ever say the words “China” or “Beijing” but sprinkled implicit references to America’s increasingly powerful authoritarian competitor throughout his speech, because the two nations butt heads within the Indo-Pacific and on trade and human rights issues.
He said the US will compete vigorously, both economically and to push democratic systems and rule of law.
“We’ll get up for our allies and our friends and oppose attempts by stronger countries to dominate weaker ones, whether through changes to territory by force, economic coercion, technical exploitation or disinformation. But we’re not seeking — I’ll say it again — we aren’t seeking a replacement conflict or a world divided into rigid blocs,” Biden said.
Biden came to the UN facing criticism reception and abroad for a chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan that left some Americans and Afghan allies still therein country and struggling to urge out.
‘A new era’
His vow for allied unity is being tested by a three-way agreement among the US, Australia and Britain that undermined a French submarine deal and left France feeling stabbed within the back.
“We’ve ended 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan and as we close this era of relentless war, we’re opening a replacement era of relentless diplomacy,” Biden said.
He vowed to defend vital US national interests, but said that “the mission must be clear and achievable,” and therefore the American military “must not be used because the answer to each problem we see round the world”.
Biden, a Democrat, hoped to present a compelling case that the US remains a reliable ally to its partners round the world after four years of “America First” policies pursued by his Republican predecessor Donald Trump.
Overcoming global challenges “will depend on our ability to recognise our common humanity”, Biden said.
He added that he remains committed to peacefully resolving a dispute with Iran over its nuclear programme. He vowed to defend US ally Israel but said a two-state solution with the Palestinians remains needed but a foreign goal.
He said the US wants “sustained diplomacy” to resolve the crisis surrounding North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes. North Korea has rejected US overtures to interact in talks.
Discussing oppression of racial, ethnic and non secular minorities, Biden singled out China’s Xinjiang region where rights groups estimate that a million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities are interned in camps.
In response to Biden’s regard to Xinjiang, China’s mission to the UN told Reuters: “It’s completely groundless. We totally reject. The US should pay more attention to its own human rights problems.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who begins a second five-year term at the helm of the planet body on January 1, warned earlier of the risks of the growing gap between China and therefore the US, the world’s largest economies.
“I fear our world is creeping towards two different sets of economic, trade, financial and technology rules, two divergent approaches within the development of AI — and ultimately two different military and geopolitical strategies,” Guterres said.
“This may be a recipe for trouble. it might be far less predictable than the conflict ,” Guterres said.
