Trump to release Israeli-Palestinian peace plan on Tuesday

President Trump on Monday said he will unveil his administration’s plan for peace between Israelis and Palestinians on Tuesday afternoon, referring to the effort as a “suggestion” for the two sides.

He made his remarks while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday and said the U.S. plan has the support of the prime minister.

“So tomorrow at 12 o’clock, we’ll be announcing a plan. And it’s a very big plan, it will be a suggestion between Israel and the Palestinians, it’s the closest it’s ever come and we’ll see what happens,” the president said.

Trump is meeting with Netanyahu and his chief political opponent Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, head of the Blue and White Party, to gain consensus on the administration’s devised plan. 

 

The plan is nearly three years in the making and its release would come ahead of a contentious, third-round of Israeli elections on March 2.

“We have the support of the prime minister, we have the support of the other parties, and we think we will ultimately have the support of the Palestinians, but we’re going to see,” Trump said.

The president said earlier that the administration has held off on releasing the political aspect of the plan until a new Israeli government has formed. 

 

The White House is seen as being anxious to publicize the effort ahead of the 2020 U.S. elections in November.

 

Palestinians have rejected out of hand the Trump administration’s efforts to promote peace between the two sides and have refused to communicate with the White House since the U.S. moved the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018.

“They did not speak with any of us. We do not speak to them,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told The Hill when asked if Palestinian leadership was approached about the unveiling of the peace plan.

Trump on Monday said the plan is “very good” for the Palestinians and that efforts to implement the expected voluminous document would not go forward without their participation.

“Now, without them we don’t do the deal, and that’s OK,” Trump said.

 

Netanyahu, sitting next to Trump, said engaging with the plan is an “opportunity of the century and we’re not going to pass it by.”

Support from the Arab world is a crucial component to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as many Middle East nations have rejected recognizing or engaging diplomatically with Israel until there is a resolution.

While Egypt and Jordan have long-standing peace treaties with Israel, the two countries have been cautious about publicly endorsing the U.S. effort to achieve peace.

Yet Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E. and Bahrain, have quietly strengthened relations with Israel over shared interests in the region – such as countering Iran.

On Monday, Trump said that “many of the Arab nations” have agreed to the administration’s peace plan.

“They like it,” he said.

In June, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, chief architect of the plan, led a conference in Bahrain to build support among Arab nations — like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – to support an economic portion of the plan.

But the conference was criticized for having no official Palestinian or Israeli representatives, as well as a lack of high-level officials from Arab countries.

The Trump Administration has implemented key policy changes toward Israel that have been criticized as establishing facts on the ground in the face of issues that were long-believed to be resolved in negotiations directly between Israel and the Palestinians. Among those policy changes was the U.S. moving its embassy to Jerusalem, which critics viewed as American support for recognizing full Israeli sovereignty over the holy city that Palestinians claim as a capital for a future state.

In March, the U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights — territory Israel captured from Syria and annexed in 1981 — was viewed as preparing to support Israeli efforts to annex Israeli settlements in the West Bank, land Palestinians hope to be part of their future state.

Administration officials have kept details of the peace plan closely guarded but have hinted its outline is a departure from long-standing U.S. policy that supports a two-state solution to the conflict.

Congressional Democrats have criticized the administration for failing to endorse a two-state solution, with the House passing a resolution in December reaffirming its support for the policy.

Top Democrats overseeing foreign affairs in Congress announced cautious support on Monday for the administration’s efforts to restart peace negotiations.

“As longtime supporters of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and the two-state solution, we welcome any effort that will help advance those goals,” Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said in a joint statement.