Washington: US President Donald Trump’s proposal for a Palestinian state on Tuesday has been backed by Israeli leaders but appears unlikely to attract Palestinian support.
Trump’s plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace imposes strict conditions on Palestine and allows Israel to maintain control of long-contested West Bank settlements.
The US President announced the plan at a White House event alongside embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu said he would move to annex the Jordan Valley and Israeli settlements in the West Bank by calling a vote at a cabinet meeting on Sunday. The proposal included what Trump called a “four-year freeze” by Israel on new settlement activity.
Although Trump’s stated aim was to end decades of conflict, the plan he advanced favoured Israel, a fact underscored by the absence of Palestinians from the announcement.
It seemed unlikely to immediately advance Israeli-Palestinian talks that broke down in 2014, however the plan was called “an important starting point for a return to negotiations” by the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia and Egypt also offered encouraging statements.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, however, mocked what Trump has called the “deal of the century”, describing it as the “slap of the century”.
Palestinians have refused to deal with the Trump administration in protest at pro-Israel policies such as moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the eastern part of which is sought by the Palestinians for a future state.
Read the article by Steve Holland, Dan Williams and Arshad Mohammed in the Brisbane Times.