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President Joe Biden. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
CNN –
President Joe Biden called for an end to violence against Palestinians in the West Bank in an editorial published Saturday, signaling that the U.S. is ready to enact visa bans and reaffirming his commitment to creating a state for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
“This much is clear: a two-state solution is the only way to ensure the long-term security of both the Israeli and Palestinian people,” Biden wrote in the Washington Post.
The president’s warning comes amid concerns that Israel is violating the Visa Waiver Program, which allows eligible travelers to apply for entry to the United States without a visa. Israel joined the program at the end of October.
“I have reiterated to the Israeli leadership that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and that those who perpetrate the violence must be held accountable,” Biden wrote. “The United States stands ready to take its own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists who attack civilians in the West Bank.”
The State Department acknowledged the concerns earlier this week and spokesman Matt Miller said “remedial action is available to us” if Israel does not comply with the program.
Biden also rejected calls for a ceasefire in Gaza in the editorial, maintaining a position he has held since the Israel-Hamas conflict began early last month. Instead, the president emphasized the need for a two-state solution and interim governance under the Palestinian Authority.
“The path to peace must lie through a two-state solution – two peoples living side by side with equal levels of freedom, opportunity and dignity.” Achieving this goal requires the commitment of Israelis and Palestinians as well as the United States and our allies and partners,” he wrote.
Biden has previously advocated a two-state solution to the decades-long tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.
“We must continue to pursue a path so that both Israel and the Palestinian people can live safely and securely in dignity and peace,” he said during an address in Tel Aviv last month. “For me that means a two-state solution. We must continue to work for Israel’s greater integration with its neighbors.”
The Washington Post op-ed is the latest attempt by the White House to remind Americans that conflicts abroad affect U.S. national security, as the administration’s supplemental request remains stalled.
Last month, the Biden administration requested more than $105 billion from Congress as part of a package it said would provide security assistance for the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel. At the time, Biden made a passionate case for funding in a prime-time Oval Office address, calling the moment “a turning point” in American history.
The president underscored that message in his editorial Saturday, seeking to highlight the similarities between the two wars.
“Both Putin and Hamas are fighting to wipe a neighboring democracy off the map,” Biden wrote. “And both Putin and Hamas hope to collapse overall regional stability and integration and exploit the resulting unrest.”
“America cannot and will not allow this. For our own national security interests – and for the good of the entire world,” he added.
Biden concluded by condemning the rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“We cannot stand idly by while hate arises,” he said. “We must unequivocally denounce anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hate and bias. We must renounce violence and malice and see ourselves not as enemies but as fellow Americans.”
This story has been updated with additional information.