© Provided by Washington Examiner The White House has not truncated its timeline for naming a U.S. ambassador to Israel despite the deadly violence unfolding between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants.
A "qualified, experienced" diplomat for Israel will be nominated "over the coming weeks," according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki during a briefing that coincided with Secretary of State Antony Blinken's remarks regarding his plans to dispatch an envoy to the region immediately.
"In the meantime, we have great confidence in our team on the ground in Jerusalem led by a career diplomat, Jonathan Shrier, who enjoys open and regular access to a range of senior officials," Psaki told reporters at the house of the U.S. Embassy's second in command on Wednesday.
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While the ambassador nomination is "in process," Psaki described U.S. engagement as occurring "privately through diplomatic channels."
"Just since this weekend, we've had more than 25 high-level calls and meetings by senior U.S. officials with senior officials from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and their partners and other stakeholders, including the Qataris, the Tunisians, the Jordanians, the Egyptians, who, as you all know, have an important role to play in the region, as we work to move towards deescalation," she said.
She added, "Just yesterday, we had more than 10 phone calls by senior Washington-based officials, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan's call with his counterparts."
Blinken is sending deputy assistant secretary Hady Amr, the Near East Bureau's lead official for Israel and Palestinian Affairs, to spearhead U.S. diplomatic efforts to broker an end to the fighting.
"He will urge on my behalf, and on behalf of President Biden, a deescalation of violence," Blinken told reporters at the State Department. "We are very focused on this. The United States remains committed to a two-state solution. This violence takes us further away from that goal."
Blinken's team has labored to maintain a balance between condemning Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist group by the U.S., without seeming to give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a green light to conduct major operations against the Palestinian militants.
"There is, first, a very clear and absolute distinction between a terrorist organization, Hamas, that is indiscriminately raining down rockets, in fact, targeting civilians, and Israel's response, defending itself," Blinken said. "Israel has an extra burden in trying to do everything it possibly can to avoid civilian casualties, even as it is rightfully responding in defense of its people."
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An estimated 35 Palestinians, including 12 children, and six Israelis, including one teenage girl, have been killed in the worst violence since the 50-day Gaza War in 2014, according to local officials.
Tags: News, Joe Biden, White House, Antony Blinken, State Department, Foreign Policy, Israel, Palestinians, Hamas, Nominations
Original Author: Naomi Lim, Joel Gehrke
Original Location: White House shows no urgency to name ambassador to Israel despite deadly violence