US President Donald Trump has presented his long-awaited Middle East peace plan, favouring to keep Jerusalem as Israel’s entire capital.
He proposed an independent Palestinian state and the identification of Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements. Standing alongside Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Mr Trump said his proposals “could be the last opportunity” for Palestinians.
I will always stand with the State of Israel and the Jewish people. I strongly support their safety and security and their right to live within their historical homeland. It's time for peace! pic.twitter.com/lKwQ9IKTUG
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2020
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plans as a “conspiracy”.
“I say to Trump and Netanyahu: Jerusalem is not for sale, all our rights are not for sale and are not for bargain. And your deal, the conspiracy, will not pass,” he said in a televised address from Ramallah in the West Bank.
The designed plan, which aims to solve one of the world’s longest-running disputes, was drafted under the stewardship of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Thousands of Palestinians protested in the Gaza Strip earlier on Tuesday, while the Israeli military deployed reinforcements in the occupied West Bank.
But the Trump administration was never aiming for an honest deal. Instead, it was chasing a deal that can feasibly be executed. In other words, it’s a deal shaped by a determined understanding of the new power balances within the region and globally.
It used to be that most people assumed time was on the side of the Palestinians. Their demographic growth would eventually force Israel to surrender to their demands. But instead Israel has proved capable of keeping its own democracy separate from Palestinian demands for their own homeland. In the two decades following the Clinton peace proposal that the Palestinians rejected, Israel has continued its growth as one of the region’s foremost economic, military and technology powers.
Meanwhile the supremacy of the Palestinian people kept being worn away, a function of both expanded Israeli settlements and, more recently, US actions like moving the embassy to Jerusalem.
So far, Palestinian leaders have refused to even engage with the Trump administration’s proposal, and it is hard to blame them. The deal doesn’t give Palestinians control over Haram al-Sharif (i.e. the Temple Mount). It doesn’t allow them to make core east Jerusalem the capital of a Palestinian state – it instead downgrades a Palestinian capital to the outskirts of the city.
However, Saudi Arabia appreciates President Donald Trump’s efforts in developing the Middle East peace plan.
“The kingdom appreciates the efforts of President Trump’s Administration to develop a comprehensive peace plan between the Palestinian and the Israeli sides,” the foreign ministry said in a statement carried on state media.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman phoned Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and stressed “the kingdom’s steadfast stance on the Palestinian issue and the rights of the Palestinian people”, according to the state news agency said.
The king stands by the Palestinian people and supports “their options and what achieves their hopes and aspirations,” according to the statements .
The Palestinian President conveyed his appreciation to King Salman for his desire and interest in the Palestinian cause, and for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its consistent and encouraging acts towards Palestine and its people.
Trump’s Key proposals:
- The US will recognise Israeli sovereignty over territory that Mr Trump’s plan anticipates being part of Israel. The plan includes a conceptual map that Mr Trump says illustrates the territorial compromises that Israel is willing to make
- The map will “more than double the Palestinian territory and provide a Palestinian capital in eastern Jerusalem”, where Mr Trump says the US would open an embassy. The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said Mr Trump’s plan would give Palestinians control over 15% of what it called “historic Palestine”.
- Jerusalem “will remain Israel’s undivided capital”. Both Israel and the Palestinians hold competing claims to the holy city. The Palestinians insist that East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, be the capital of their future state.
- An opportunity for Palestinians to “achieve an independent state of their very own” – however, few details were only brought out.
- “No Palestinians or Israelis will be uprooted from their homes” – suggesting that existing Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank will remain as it is.
- Israel will work with the king of Jordan to ensure that the status quo governing the key holy site in Jerusalem known to Jews as the Temple Mount and al-Haram al-Sharif to Muslims is preserved. Jordan runs the religious trust that administers the site.
- Territory allocated to Palestinians in Mr Trump’s map “will remain open and undeveloped for a period of four years”. During that time, Palestinians can study the deal, negotiate with Israel, and “achieve the criteria for statehood”.
Read other related news:
- Saudi Arabia imposes 100% tax on shisha
- US President Donald Trump fires National Security Advisor John Bolton
Views : 75983