Donald Trump Is Drafting An Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu after their meeting in Jerusalem, May 22, 2017 Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — President Trump and his advisers have started drafting an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, officials told The New York Times.
In the article published Saturday, officials said they expect to address issues that have long frustrated negotiators, such as the status of Jerusalem and West Bank settlements. The framework could “take until early next year to finalize,” officials said, and will not impose a timeline for negotiations.
“We have spent a lot of time listening to and engaging with the Israelis, Palestinians and key regional leaders over the past few months to help reach an enduring peace deal,” Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt told The Times, adding, “Our goal is to facilitate, not dictate, a lasting peace agreement to improve the lives of Israelis and Palestinians and security across the region.”
Greenblatt, Trump’s son-in-law and chief Middle East adviser Jared Kushner, Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategy Dina Powell, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman are the “core” team drafting the plan, according to the Times. They are reportedly consulting with State Department officials and U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem Donald Blome.
Analysts told the Times they expect the plan would have to be based on the two-state solution. Some said they believe Trump’s plan may include confidence-building measures to get the processing moving, including Israel limiting settlement construction to current blocs without taking new land and Palestinians ending payments to families of Palestinians imprisoned for terrorist attacks.
Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, could try to sweeten the deal, The Times report suggested.
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