The decision of President Joe Biden’s administration reversed a step taken by his predecessor Donald Trump, whose administration rejected the broad international consensus that Israel illegally occupied the West Bank since 1967.
Statement by US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller:
- “Engaging in bilateral scientific and technological cooperation with Israel in the geographic areas administered by Israel after 1967 and still subject to final status negotiations, is contrary to the foreign policy of the United States.”
- “The United States highly values scientific and technological cooperation with Israel.”
- However, “the restrictions imposed on funding scientific research in the West Bank reflect the long-term US position.”
The decision particularly affects Ariel University, a major academic institution established in 1982 on the lands of a then-new settlement in the West Bank.
Members of the Republican Party quickly attacked the decision, with Senator Ted Cruz criticizing what he described as “anti-Semitic discrimination” against Jews in the West Bank, saying the Biden administration was “morbidly obsessed with undermining Israel.”
As for David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel under Trump and a supporter of Ariel University, he accused the Biden administration of “adopting the proposals of the Boycott Israel movement.”
But the Biden administration says it opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which calls for cutting ties with Israel as a whole, not just the settlements.
Under Mike Pompeo, Trump’s Secretary of State, Washington took measures in favor of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including allowing its products to be labeled “Made in Israel.”
The Biden administration returned to the old American position, calling for a two-state solution and criticizing settlement expansion.
Washington has stopped making any substantive effort in the peace negotiations, deeming that their prospects for success are very slim under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads the most right-wing government in Israel’s history.
#Washington #stops #funding #Israeli #universities #West #Bank