US President Donald Trump has told reporters that he will likely release details of his peace plan for the Middle East before next Tuesday, after invited Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Blue and White Benny Gantz to Washington for talks.
According to leaked alleged details of the plan, it is said to propose a Palestinian state to be created in future, but only if Hamas disarms and the Palestinians recognise Israel as a Jewish State.
Among the alleged proposals in the plan are that all Israeli settlements in the West Bank will remain in place and become Israeli sovereign territory, and that all of Jerusalem would remain under Israeli sovereignty, with some outlying neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem ceded to the Palestinians. Additional reports said that 30% of the West Bank would become part of Israel, with some parts of Area C ceded to the Palestinians.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman warned Israel and the United States not to cross any “red lines”. In a statement, the spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, affirmed that the Palestinians support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
While meeting US Vice President Mike Pence yesterday, PM Netanyahu said: “We have had no better friend than President Trump. With this invitation [to the White House], I think that the president is seeking to give Israel the peace and security that it deserves”.
Both Mr Pence and Mr Netanyahu said it was the Israeli Prime Minister’s idea to also invite Benny Gantz to the White House, in order to “create as broad a consensus as possible” surrounding the plan.
The US plan has been delayed many times in the past year, primarily because due to Israel’s political deadlock.
