Trump May Reveal Peace Plan Before Israeli Elections, Thinks Deal ‘Will Happen’
- Trump May Reveal Peace Plan Before Israeli Elections, Thinks Deal ‘Will Happen’
by https://www.timesofisrael.com/
On sidelines of G7 summit, US president says both sides are ready to negotiate a deal, Palestinians would like to get their US funding back
–
US President Donald Trump said Monday that his administration might release its Middle East peace plan before Israel’s elections in September, reversing earlier statements that it would wait until after the election re-do to unveil the long-delayed proposal.
–
Trump told reporters at a joint appearance with Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on the sidelines of the annual G7 summit in Paris that both Israelis and Palestinians were interested in reaching a peace deal. Trump said: “I think they want to make a deal, the Palestinians, and I think Israel would like to make a deal too. I think people, after so many years and decades, I think they’re a little tired of fighting.” He also said “I cut off most funding to the Palestinians, a lot of funding. And I think they’d like to get it back.”
–
“We’re going to know who the [Israeli] prime minister is going to be fairly soon,” he said. “[A deal] won’t be before the election, I don’t think… But I think you may see what the deal is before the election. And I think the deal will happen… Everybody says, that’s the deal that can’t be made… Israel and the Palestinians: there’s tremendous hatred for many, many decades, and everybody says that is a deal that can’t be made. So we’ll see if we can make it.”
–
His administration’s Mideast peace plan was supposed to roll out over the summer, but unveiling of the US plan was delayed after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to cobble together a coalition following the April elections and called a fresh vote, now scheduled for September 17. That delay was a “complicating factor,” said Trump.
–
read more.
end