Secretary of State Tony Blinken while in the Middle East last week asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for a temporary “pause” in certain actions each side opposes, including Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and Palestinian moves at the UN, U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The Biden administration is looking for ways to de-escalate the situation in the West Bank and prevent it from deteriorating into a third intifada. This includes a package of steps the U.S. hopes both Israel and the Palestinian Authority could take and others they would refrain from taking in order to lower tensions.
