The kind of cooperation that Israel and the Palestinians have been demonstrating in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus crisis reflects the type of cooperation and dialogue necessary to resolve the regional conflict, US Deputy Ambassador Cherith Norman Chalet told the United Nations Security Council on Monday.
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Recent engagement between the parties "speaks to the power of dialogue – the kind of dialogue we have all been urging the parties to engage in for many months now," Chalet said during the Security Council's monthly meeting on the Middle East peace process.
Speaking of the US peace plan, launched in late January, just before the global pandemic rose to the scene, Chalet said, "This is not the time for a complex discussion of the granular details of the Trump administration's Vision for Peace."
She noted that the close cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority could "provide a blueprint" for resuming the peace talks, deadlocked since 2014, once the coronavirus crisis subsides.
"The Israeli and Palestinian ministries of health have been coordinating regularly to mitigate the spread and impact of the coronavirus," she said, adding that Israeli and Palestinian officials "have been meeting regularly for conversations" and have shared "best practices with one another to help those in their care stay safe and healthy."
This kind of cooperation demonstrates that human lives "can literally be saved – when leaders come to the table just to talk with one another," Chalet said.
"When COVID-19 has passed, the need for dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians will be just as great as it was before," he said.
