Middle East peace plan will be presented by Trump today. Trump has named this plan “Agreement of the Century ” but on the flip side palestinian authorities has already rejected any plan with U.S mediation. The Palestinian leaders advanced their rejection of any proposal that has the United States as the sole mediator, although the US president said the initiative is “excessively good” for them
The president of the United States, Donald Trump will present on Tuesday the details of the so-called “Agreement of the century”, his proposal to try to solve the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Trump, who received the main Israeli politicians on Monday at the White House, said that “many” Arab countries have agreed with the plan, although the Palestinian Authority has already expressed its frontal rejection of the proposal, of which There are no details yet. “We have the support of the (Israeli) prime minister, we have the support of the other parties and we believe that, in the end, we will have the support of the Palestinians, but we will see it,” he said.
“It’s a great plan. It will be an indication between Israelis and Palestinians, it is the closest they will ever be and we will see what happens, ”said Trump, before his meeting with Premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I think it would be fantastic if we can move it forward. They say it is probably the most difficult agreement anywhere and anywhere. When he was in the business world and a deal was tough, people referred to him as a joke as harder than uniting Israelis and Palestinians, ”he said. “That’s what I’ve heard all my life, so we’ll see what happens,” he said.
“Excessively good” for the Palestinians
Trump also said that the Palestinians “should want” the “Agreement of the century.” “They probably won’t want it in the first place, but I think in the end they will,” he added.
In this way, he said that “it is very good for them” and that “in fact, it is excessively good for them.” “Without them, there is no agreement,” he said, before recalling that the United States “cut off aid to the Palestinians,” something he “didn’t like to do.”
“We did it. I think there is a very good opportunity and they will want this,” he argued. “If we succeed, it will be a great tribute to everyone. If not, life goes on,” he said.
For its part, the main Israeli opposition leader, Benjamin Gantz, highlighted after his meeting with Trump that he will work to apply the agreement if he manages to form a government after the March elections, the third that the country will hold in less than a year. “The president’s peace plan (Trump) is an important and historic milestone,” he said, before adding that his government would work alongside “countries in the region” to make it happen.
He also said that he has discussed with the US president “matters of the utmost importance for the future and security of Israel,” including “the importance of a shared dialogue with the Palestinians, the countries of the region and King Abdullah II of Jordan. ” Finally, he thanked Israel for its “deep support”, especially through its “help against the threat of Iran and its partners” and for “recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and moving the US Embassy (in Israel) to Jerusalem. ”
Change in Map
Although the White House has not yet confirmed any details of the plan, one of its architects, Trump’s son-in-law and presidential advisor Jared Kushner, announced a year ago that the project would contain proposals on the most thorny issues in the conflict, including “the establishment of borders ”.
That border area with Jordan constitutes about 30% of the West Bank territory, and its annexation is one of Netanyahu’s electoral promises, an idea that the UN has described as “devastating” for peace and contrary to international law.
According to the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post, the White House has designed a map with the new borders of Israel, although it is not clear whether it will be made public at the ceremony on Tuesday.
Jericho (West Bank), seen from an observation point of Israel, in the Jordan Valley
Jericho (West Bank), seen from an observation point of Israel, in the Jordan Valley
A key point in Kushner’s strategy is to recruit Arab countries in the region to convince the Palestinians to approach the negotiating table, and after months of contacts, the White House has already shared details of the plan with “important allies” in the area, an official US source told Efe.
Response of Palestinian Authorities
On the other hand, the Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohamed Shtayé, on Monday called on the international community to reject the “Agreement of the Century.”
“We want the international community not to be a partner in this agreement, since it contradicts the alphabet of International Law and the inalienable rights of our people,” he said, as reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFA. Thus, he said that the plan benefits Israel at the expense of the rights of the Palestinian people, before stressing that it does not constitute a basis on which to work to resolve the conflict.
Shtayé said the proposal shakes the pillars of the Arab Peace Initiative – approved in 2002 and subsequently backed up in 2007 and 2017 – while reiterating that East Jerusalem must be the capital of the future State of Palestine.
“This plan does not return the occupied land to its people, does not recognize the 1967 borders, does not recognize Jerusalem as occupied territory, but gives it to Israel as capital, launches a financial war against the United Nations Agency for Refugees of Palestine in the Middle East (UNRWA), closes the Palestine office in Washington and works to dry up the financial sources of the Palestinian Authority, ”he explained.
Therefore, he reiterated that “it is nothing other than a plan to liquidate the Palestinian cause.” Shtayé also requested that “the Arab nation be more united than ever and be a shield that protects Palestine from the great conspiracy and safeguards the rights of its people.”
The Palestinian Authority has already rejected the mediation of the United States for its decision on the status of Jerusalem, arguing that it maintains a biased and favorable position towards Israel’s interests.
Trump announced on December 6, 2017 the change to Jerusalem his Embassy in Israel, thereby dynamiting the only point of consensus in the international community on the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians: that the status of the holy city should be decided in a possible dialogue of peace. A total of 128 countries demonstrated against this movement in a vote of the United Nations General Assembly, despite which the United States and its allies have continued with their plans. Israel considers the question of the capital of Jerusalem settled.