U.S. Close to Releasing Mideast Peace Proposal that Palestinian Leadership May Immediately Reject
- U.S. Close to Releasing Mideast Peace Proposal that Palestinian Leadership May Immediately Reject
by The Trump administration is close to releasing a long-awaited Middle East peace proposal that officials said would present U.S. goals for a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, despite the Palestinian position that President Trump cannot be an honest broker.
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The proposal is likely to be released within weeks, with the aim of beginning negotiations between the parties, perhaps as early as this summer, diplomats and other officials said. It has been delayed by a months-long Palestinian boycott in protest of Trump’s policy that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas may reject the framework out of hand.
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“If he doesn’t give it a read, if he just sticks with the language which he’s been saying publicly, such as the U.S. is out [as a peacemaker] and that he won’t even look at it, that type of language, well shame on him,” a senior Trump administration official said. “How does that help the Palestinian people?”
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The exact timing of a release is not set. “We’re going to let the situation on the ground determine when to do it rather than deciding on a deadline and force it,” said the official, who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not been released. “We have one shot, right? We want to get it right.”
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