United States Restores Pre-2017 Rule Banning Scientific Cooperation With Israel Beyond Green Line
The Biden Administration has issued guidelines curbing scientific and technological cooperation with areas under Israeli control beyond the 1949 armistice line, according to a report by Kan News on Sunday.
The move, indicative of US disapproval of Israel’s plan to permit the construction of thousands of homes for Israeli settlers in the West Bank, signals a return to policies prevalent during the Obama Administration.
A spokesperson from the US State Department commented on the decision, saying, “This guidance mirrors the longstanding US position that the final status of these geographic areas should be determined through negotiations leading to a two-state solution.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told reporters he objected to the decision and thought it was wrong, and that “in similar cases in the past, the Israeli government fully reimbursed parties damaged by such decisions.”
This move reverses a policy change enacted by the Trump Administration that lifted the restrictions on cooperation with Israel beyond the pre-1967 Green Line.
In October 2020, the Trump Administration signed bilateral agreements to bolster cooperation with Israel in science, industrial research, and agriculture. These agreements eliminated “geographic restrictions” from previous accords, allowing US-Israel joint projects to be conducted in areas that “came under the administration of the State of Israel after June 5, 1967.”
