Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

Here are the first reactions to Trump’s peace plan

In a briefing at the East Room of the White House, President Trump unveiled a new peace plan that would preserve Israeli control of Jerusalem and settlements in the West Bank, while endorsing a Palestinian state and promising billions in dollars to help develop it. Even before the speech had ended, journalists, commentators, and thinkers had already begun to share their first reactions on Twitter. Here’s what some of them were saying.

Before the briefing began, reporters noted the presence of pro-Israel philanthropists Sheldon and Miri Adelson, as well as Jared and Ivanka Kushner, Republican members of Congress like Ted Cruz, and evangelical leaders like former Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed.

The Israeli press turned out in force.

Jill Jacobs of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights had a Talmud-based take.

Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank had praise for the deal.

But Forward columnist Muhammad Shehada described it as a precursor to annexation of the West Bank.

And Reuters correspondent Luke Baker thought the speech raised more questions than it answered.

Journalist Noga Tarnopolsky noted Trump’s reference to Christian religious leaders attending the briefing.

The Washington Examiner’s Seth Mandel predicted the media reaction would be negative — and had scorn for the doomsayers.

Almost everyone had something to say about Trump’s reference to the “al-Aqua Mosque” (he was referring to the al-Aqsa Mosque, which is located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem).

Weigh in, we would like to hear what you think of the proposed peace plan, comment on our Facebook post below.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.