Satisfaction with the Israeli delegation to Washington, given the relatively marginal space devoted to the Biden-Bennett summit on the Palestinian issue, may turn out to be premature and perhaps even too hasty.
Although the United States will not initiate at this stage - at least until the Knesset approves the budget in November - a political move with the Palestinians. It will also not put its own initiative on the table - at this stage. The Palestinian issue was present in the Oval Office, which may not have been the "elephant in the room" this time, but certainly the shadow of that "elephant."
Biden asked Bennett to refrain from unilateral marches in the settlements.
Bennett stuck to the natural growth formula.
According to Bennett's Israel, the built-up area in the settlements currently stands at 87,000 dunams and covers only 1.52% of all Judea and Samaria, but in principle - the construction, in accordance with the natural growth of a Jewish population of half a million people, will extend throughout the settlements - 537 thousand dunams (9.38% of Judea and Samaria) - and will include several thousand housing units each year.
The Americans disagree with this broad Israeli interpretation of "natural growth."
They are willing to "swallow" with difficulty construction inside the fence, and much less than a few thousand.
The question "How much exactly will they build and where?"
You will engage in talks between Israel and the United States, at this stage behind the scenes. This is the agreement. Bennett will try to achieve as much as possible. The United States will press for as little as possible.
If there are no understandings, the dispute, which the parties are currently refraining from defining, will come to light.
The Palestinian issue and the story of Jewish construction also came up in the Jerusalem context. Biden spoke about the Arab families living in the homes of the Jews in Shimon the Tzaddik-Sheikh Jarrah, on the seam line in Jerusalem. He sought to avoid an unfair solution. Bennett replied that the matter had now been referred to a court of law. The issue of the consulate in East Jerusalem also came up at the meeting, and disagreements between the parties remained the same. However, Bennett can be pleased that for the time being there is no structured plan on the part of the Biden administration for the Palestinians, and that the Americans' heads are largely in other foreign affairs, and of course the Corona. The dispute with the Americans over a two-state solution remains the same - Bennett opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state and Biden and his government think it is the only solution - but currently agree not to agree.
Experience in our "neighborhood" shows that when the "peace process" jumps to visit the area, its side effect is usually a "bloody process" and terrorism.
The Palestinians translate "peace" into withdrawals.
Terrorism translates "peace" into weakness.
The result is terrorist attacks.
The most notable example of course is the bloody "Oslo process", and also the "disengagement" from Gaza, but along the way, over the years, we have had other similar "peace" events.
It is to be hoped, therefore, that policy makers and decision-makers in the Biden administration are familiar with this "peace"-saturated history.
It is also to be hoped that the Israeli side will be there to remind them, sensitively but resolutely, how thin the difference in the Middle East is between a peace process and a terrorist process.