Palestinians warn of violence over Trump plan
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Trump Administration’s peace plan is an attempt to destroy the Palestinian cause and could lead to violence on the part of the Palestinian public, Palestinian Authority officials warned.
In addition, a senior aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told Ynet that the decision to release the plan now is a result of “internal Israeli political self-interests.”
“It is obvious to us that the presentation of the peace deal is meant to help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with his elections, we know when personal interests are at play,” said the senior official.
Trump is scheduled to meet with Netanyahu on both Monday and Tuesday, and with Blue and White head Benny Gantz on Monday. He is expected to make the peace plan public ahead of the meetings.
The Palestinian official also told Ynet that “there is no doubt the plan will have an effect on the Palestinian streets. It could cause tension and lead to an escalation, there is a limit to the existing patience for one-sided moves.”
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a statement said the release of the plan could lead the Palestinians to a “new phase in their struggle” against Israel, the French news agency AFP reported.
Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP that the Palestinian Liberation Organization reserves the right “to withdraw from the interim agreement” — meaning the Oslo Accords — if Trump unveils his plan, and cancel all agreements signed with Israel. This could mean dismantling the Palestinian Authority and halting security cooperation with Israel in the West Bank.
Erekat also threatened that if Israel begins to annex West Bank territory — a step the plan is thought to approve — then the Palestinians will demand full rights of Israeli citizenship including the right to vote.
Palestinian groups on Sunday called for a “Day of Rage” on the day that the plan is announced, which often leads to violence against soldiers and Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
CNN reported on Sunday that the Trump administration has made a renewed attempt through an unnamed third party to speak to Abbas about the peace plan. The White House overture was rebuffed, however. There has been no contact between Abbas’s office and the White House for more than two years, CNN reported citing multiple unnamed sources.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, who heads a coalition of small parties to the right of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, said in a statement on Sunday night that his bloc will not support the Trump plan unless Israel can immediately start annexing Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He also said that his bloc would not support a plan that includes the formation of a Palestinian state.
“Under no circumstances will we allow the establishment or recognition of a Palestinian state nor will we allow an inch of land to be turned over to the Arabs,” Bennett said in a statement from the Israeli settlement city of Ariel.
The post Palestinians warn of violence over Trump plan appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
