BLINKEN CALLS FOR CALM AMID VIOLENCE IN MIDEAST

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for calm at a time of cascading violence during his visit to Jerusalem on Monday, the most highprofile U.S. engagement with Israel since the inauguration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government last month.

In a joint news conference with Netanyahu, after days of escalating bloodshed, Blinken said that maintaining the “vision” of a two-state solution, in which a Palestinian state would be created alongside Israel, was “the only way forward.”

But Netanyahu’s new government — an alliance of settler activists, religious conservatives and hard-line nationalists — rose to power promising to expand the occupation of the West Bank, and to implement harsher measures to counter Palestinian violence. A survey last week by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows that support for a two-state solution in the region is at an all-time low, with only one-third of Palestinians and one-third of Jewish Israelis backing the creation of two states.

Blinken offered his condolences for the seven victims of a mass killing Friday allegedly by a Palestinian gunman outside a synagogue in east Jerusalem, which he called “more than an attack on individuals. It was also an attack on the universal act of practicing one’s faith.”

“In the context of this attack, and escalating violence, it’s important that the government and people of Israel know America’s commitment to their security remains ironclad,” Blinken continued.

That attack came a day after 10 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp, one of the deadliest operations in the West Bank in two decades. At least 30 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The violence, and the remote likelihood of progress toward peace between the two parties, cast a shadow over Blinken’s visit, which was intended to convey President Joe Biden’s strong support for Israel while outlining White House priorities in its quest to stabilize, if not solve, the conflict.

Blinken is expected to meet today with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.