Arab League unanimously rejects Trump peace plan
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump introduce the peace plan. Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Arab League, meeting in an emergency session in Cairo, unanimously voted to reject President Donald Trump’s plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace, calling it “unfair.”
Arab foreign ministers voted on a resolution Saturday saying the plan, which Trump unveiled Tuesday at the White House alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “does not satisfy the minimum of the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people.” The 22-member league also agreed not to cooperate with the United States in implementing the plan and reiterated support for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with a capital in East Jerusalem.
In a speech to the league, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called the plan a “disgrace” and announced that he was cutting ties with Israel, including security cooperation. Israelis will “have to bear their full responsibilities as an occupying power,” WAFA, the official news service agency of the Palestinian National Authority, reported.
Abbas told the gathering he “will not go down in history as the man who sold our eternal capital,” referring to Jerusalem.
Under the terms of the Trump plan, Palestinians would get a demilitarized state in the Gaza strip and parts of the West Bank, with Israel retaining overall responsibility for security. The plan permits the Palestinians to establish a capital, called Al Quds, that includes more outlying areas of eastern Jerusalem.
“We still believe in peace, and we want to establish an international multi-lateral mechanism to implement international legitimacy decisions and the Arab Peace Initiative,” Abbas said, adding that “we are looking for a just solution to our issue on the basis of international legitimacy, but we will never accept that the United States as the only peace mediator.”
Abbas said he was willing to present a Palestinian plan for peace at the U.N. Security Council.
Meeting Monday in Saudi Arabia, 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, also rejected the Trump plan.
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