‘Historic’ agreement

Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas reiterated his country’s support for a two-state solution when he called to congratulate Israel on the “historic” agreement with the UAE.

“We stand by our position that only a negotiated two-state solution can bring lasting peace to the Middle East,” Maas said in a statement. “Together with our European partners and the region we have campaigned intensively in past months against an annexation and for the resumption of direct negotiations.”

That strikes many Palestinians as the return to a similarly unbearable status quo, in which Israel rules the West Bank and expands Jewish settlements while the international community calls for peace talks that don’t materialize.

Any serious negotiations, or lasting solution to the conflict, will require the Palestinians, who feel they have been brushed aside.

“We’re now in a situation where everybody is talking about us and no one is talking to us,” said Diana Buttu, a former legal adviser to the Palestinian Authority. It’s a “colonial approach,” she said, “as though we are just some problem that needs to be addressed without ever speaking to us.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended all contacts with the U.S. after it recognized disputed Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 2017. In May, the Palestinians cut all ties with Israel, including security coordination, in response to the threat of annexation, and said they would no longer abide by any past agreements with Israel or the United States.