Israel: Trump to Unveil ‘Deal of the Century’ in Early 2019
- Israel: Trump to Unveil ‘Deal of the Century’ in Early 2019
by Asharq Al-Awsat, https://aawsat.com/english
Israel announced on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump will unveil his so-called “Deal of the Century” peace plan on the Middle East in 2019. “As far as we know, they speak with us about beginning of ’19, which is coming soon,” Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said. “We don’t know the details of the plan but we know that it’s completed,” he told reporters.
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The ambassador said early next year was considered the best timing because it will be several months before expected elections in Israel. A rollout of the peace plan in early 2019 will allow Trump to “present it without interfering in our political debate in Israel,” he said.
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Israel will come to the negotiating table to discuss the plan, Danon said, but the Palestinians will try to block it. US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said in a statement on Monday it would be shared “at the appropriate time,” adding that: “Our timing, our strategy and our messaging is and will be entirely our own.”
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The Palestinians have severed ties with the Trump administration after his December decision to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and declare the city Israel’s capital. The US administration has also cut more than $500 million in Palestinian aid.
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The Palestinians see the city as the capital of their future state. International consensus has been that Jerusalem’s status must be negotiated between the two sides.
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At the annual UNs gathering of world leaders in September, Trump said in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he wanted to unveil a peace plan over the next two to three months. Danon said he did not know if the two-state solution was included in the US plan.
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Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and lawyer Jason Greenblatt, who have led efforts to draft the plan, traveled to the region several times for talks on the proposals. Greenblatt said in an October interview with the Times of Israel news site that the plan would “be heavily focused on Israeli security needs” while remaining “fair to the Palestinians”.
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