Shortly before his departure to the United States, Jordan’s King Abdullah dispatched two helicopters to Ramallah June 30 to fetch Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his entourage. It is not clear who called for the summit but there is no doubt that the topic of discussion was the upcoming July 19 meeting between King Abdullah and US President Joe Biden. Abbas brought with him most of his top aides including political and security officials.

For Abbas, whose popularity has reached an all-time low, the peace process appears to be a handy distraction from the internal bickering that is taking place in Palestine.

Abbas and the king deserve credit for opposing the Trump administration’s peace plan, including a boycott by the Palestinian leadership of Washington during the last two years of the Trump administration.

While Palestinian-American dialogue has resumed since the inauguration of President Joe Biden, many obstacles remain. The Palestinian leadership is hoping that King Abdullah, the first Arab leader to meet Biden at the White House, will be able to help restore relations to what they were during the Obama administration, when Palestine had a mission in Washington, DC, and the US Consulate in Jerusalem worked directly with the Palestinians without having to go through the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. Part of the problem was inherited from previous administrations and largely pro-Israel Congresses. The latter passed legislation requiring the closure of the Palestinian mission if a number of conditions were not met, and the White House must approve a waiver every six months for the mission to remain open. Palestinians have asked that these restrictions be permanently removed so that the Palestinian mission doesn’t continue to be vulnerable to political moods.