Donald Trump peace plan delights Israelis, enrages Palestinians
Trump’s plan envisions a disjointed Palestinian state that turns over key parts of the West Bank to Israel.
Mike Pompeo says Israel, Palestinian peace still a U.S. priority
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a priority for the Trump administration, despite its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and its planned move of the U.S. Embassy to the holy city over Palestinian protests. Pompeo also said the U.S. is “fully supportive” of Israel’s right to defend itself and declined to criticize the Israeli military for its use of live fire against Palestinian protesters along the Gaza border. He spoke in the Jordanian capital of Amman as he wrapped up the Middle East leg of his first overseas trip as America’s top diplomat. Pompeo called on the Palestinians to return to long-stalled peace talks with Israel. He said the United States is open to a two-state solution to the conflict if both parties agree, calling it a “likely outcome.” But he would not agree with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi’s characterization of the conflict as “the main cause of instability” in the region. “The parties will ultimately make the decision as to what the correct resolution is,” Pompeo told reporters at a joint news conference with Safadi. “We are certainly open to a two-party solution as a likely outcome.” But, he said, the Palestinians had to return to a political dialogue to get there. “An important piece of achieving Middle East stability is to resolve this conflict,” he added. “Precisely how to rank it among all the various challenges, I’ll defer on that. Know that it is an incredible priority for the United States to provide whatever assistance we can to allow the two parties to come to a resolution.” Safadi had opened the news conference with an apparent appeal for the U.S. to boost efforts to end the conflict. “This is the main cause of instability in the region and its resolution is the key to achieving the peace and stability we want,” he said. “Yes, the two-state solution is being challenged. Yes, there are many obstacles. But what is the alternative? We cannot give up in our efforts and there is no viable alternative.” Pompeo’s comments came at the end of a two-day visit to Israel and Jordan during which he did not meet Palestinian representatives. The Palestinians have essentially boycotted contacts with the U.S. since Trump announced in December that the United States was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem — captured by Israel in 1967 and then annexed — as the capital of a future state. Pompeo’s visit is also taking place just two weeks before the planned May 14 opening of the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and expected massive Palestinian protests the following day. Over the past month, 39 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,600 wounded in weekly border protests along the Gaza border, prompting human rights groups to ask Israel’s Supreme Court on Monday to restrict or ban the use of live ammunition. They say the military’s use of lethal force against unarmed protesters is unlawful. Israel’s military argues that the border protests are part of a long-running conflict with Gaza’s ruling Hamas, which it considers a terror group, and that the rules of armed conflict apply. Asked about the situation, Pompeo demurred, referring to “activities in Gaza over the past days and weeks.” “We do believe the Israelis have the right to defend themselves and we are fully supportive of that,” he said. In addition to the Jerusalem decisions, the Trump administration has also angered the Palestinians in recent months by ordering their office in Washington closed, although it remains open for business related to negotiations, slashing funding for the U.N. agency that supports Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and elsewhere in the region, and putting on hold all bilateral assistance to the Palestinians. Although the White House sponsored a conference on aid to Gaza last month, the Palestinians did not attend. And, a peace plan devised by Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and his special envoy for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt appears to be on hold. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Trump administration backs bill to halt aid to Palestinians
The Trump administration declared its firm support Thursday for a bill that would suspend U.S. financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority until it ends what critics have described as a long-standing practice of rewarding Palestinians who kill Americans and Israelis. The State Department announcement comes nearly six weeks after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee backed the measure. The legislation, which is named after an American who was stabbed to death in Israel by a Palestinian, reflects bipartisan outrage over what lawmakers have termed a “pay to slay” program endorsed by the Palestinian Authority. “The Trump administration strongly supports the Taylor Force Act, which is a consequence of Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization’s policy of paying terrorists and their families,” the State Department said. The department added that President Donald Trump “raised the need to end any part of this program that incentivizes violence against Israeli and American citizens with President Mahmoud Abbas last May in both Washington and Bethlehem.” But the Palestinian Authority has disputed the accusations and called the bill misinformed. Husam Zomlot, chief representative of the Palestinian General Delegation to the U.S., said last month that the program is more than 50 years old and is aimed at giving support to families “who lost their breadwinners to the atrocities of the occupation, the vast majority of whom are unduly arrested or killed by Israel.” One of the bill’s main sponsors, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said the Palestinian Authority has created monetary incentives for acts of terrorism by paying monthly stipends of as much as $3,500 to Palestinians who commit acts of violence and to their families. The amount of the payment depends on the length of the jail sentence they receive for the crime, he said. Corker is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Palestinians have argued that ending Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem – lands that Palestinians seek for their state – is key to defeating terrorism. Taylor Force was an MBA student at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and a West Point graduate who was visiting Israel in March 2016 when he was killed. Force was from Lubbock, Texas. His parents live in South Carolina. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the Palestinian Authority praised Force’s killer as a “heroic martyr.” He estimated that the Palestinian Authority has paid $144 million in “martyr payments” over the years. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Jared Kushner leading Donald Trump delegation to Middle East
White House adviser Jared Kushner is leading a delegation to the Middle East on behalf of President Donald Trump to discuss the possibility of resuming the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. A White House official said Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, left Sunday along with Jason Greenblatt, envoy for international negotiations, and Dina Powell, deputy national security adviser. They were in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday and expected to be in Israel on Wednesday, the official said. They were planning to meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the private meetings and spoke on condition of anonymity. The three were expected to meet leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt during their trip. Kushner, Greenblatt and Powell have been heavily involved in a behind-the-scenes process to help Trump broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, which the first-year president has called the “ultimate deal.” The talks this week are aimed at helping forge a path to substantive peace negotiations, but no major breakthroughs are expected. Trump has not outright endorsed the two-state solution, which has been at the heart of U.S. policy for nearly two decades. The president has urged Israel to show restraint in settlement construction but not demanded a freeze, disappointing the Palestinians. Trump also pushed back a decision on his campaign pledge to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel has welcomed the promise, while the Palestinians have strongly opposed it. In Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Kushner and other U.S. officials met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to a report on the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Their talks included “realizing a genuine and lasting peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis and to bring about security, stability and Middle Eastern prosperity,” as well as cutting off support for extremists, the report said. The trip to Saudi Arabia comes as no surprise as the kingdom hosted the first overseas trip of Trump’s presidency. Saudi Arabia is now engulfed in a diplomatic dispute with Qatar, another U.S. ally nation in the Gulf that hosts a major American military base. Qatari media reported Kushner and the American officials also met that small country’s ruling emir on Tuesday as well. . Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Donald Trump’s pick for Israel envoy goes on damage control
The combative attorney President Donald Trump picked as his ambassador to Israel sought to repair the damage from past attacks on political opponents, telling Congress he deeply regretted using inflammatory language and promised to be “respectful and measured” should he be confirmed. During his confirmation hearing Thursday, David Friedman said he deserved criticism for incendiary comments that targeted former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, liberal Jewish advocacy groups and others. Friedman had called one group, J Street, “worse than kapos” — a reference to Jews who helped the Nazis imprison fellow Jews during the Holocaust. “Apology is the first step to atonement,” Friedman told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I have profound differences of opinion with J Street. My regret is that I did not express my views respectfully.” The son of an Orthodox rabbi, Friedman has been a fervent supporter of Israeli settlements, an opponent of Palestinian statehood and staunch defender of Israel’s government. The hearing played out along familiar party lines. Republicans largely sought to play to the Trump nominee’s strengths, while Democrats aimed for weak spots. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., vigorously defended Friedman and rejected the notion that he needed to distance himself from passionately held beliefs. Rubio argued the U.S. should be unashamedly pro-Israel, noting that the Jewish state is America’s staunchest ally in the volatile Middle East. But Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., delivered a blistering assessment of Friedman’s record, which the senator said is full of insulting comments and extreme views. Friedman labels anyone who disagrees with him, including the entire Obama State Department, as anti-Semitic, Udall said. Udall referenced a letter from five former American ambassadors to Israel who called Friedman unfit for the post. The former envoys, who served Republican and Democratic presidents, cited examples of Friedman’s “extreme, radical positions,” such as believing it would not be illegal for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank. During the hearing, Friedman assured members he would not campaign for such an annexation. He also cautioned against the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. “It makes sense to tread very carefully there,” Friedman said, echoing words used by Trump. The letter opposing Friedman’s nomination was signed by Thomas Pickering, William Harrop, Edward Walker, Daniel Kurtzer and James Cunningham. Friedman said he “absolutely” supports a two-state solution, but said he’s skeptical such an approach can succeed because Palestinians haven’t renounced terrorism and have refused to accept Israel as a Jewish state. But he said he would be “delighted” if it were possible to reach a two-state agreement. Friedman appeared before the committee a day after Trump and visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to endorse the two-state solution as the preferred outcome of Middle East peace talks. Their remarks at the White House effectively abandoned what has been the foundation of U.S.-led peace efforts since 2002. The Palestinians and the international community have long favored the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. But Trump declared he also could endorse a one-nation solution to the long and deep dispute between Palestinians and Israel. Prior to the hearing, Friedman had called the two-state strategy a “narrative” and an “illusory solution in search of a nonexistent problem.” But the alternatives appear to offer dimmer prospects for peace, given Palestinian demands for statehood. Dozens of countries, including the U.S., reaffirmed their support for a two-state accord at an international conference in Paris last month, just before Trump’s inauguration. During an exchange with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Friedman acknowledged the difficulty, if not impossibility, of a single-state approach. Just as Israel wouldn’t accept a two-state solution that didn’t recognize Israel’s right to exist, Kaine said, the Palestinians shouldn’t be expected to agree to a resolution that undercut their legal rights and relegated them to second-class status. “I think so,” Friedman said. Friedman said it’s not his role to make policy, but he recommended efforts to create a Palestinian middle class in the Gaza Strip that is empowered with economic opportunities. He said most Palestinians are “being held hostage by a ruthless regime,” a reference to the Islamic militant group Hamas, which seized power there in 2007. Protesters interrupted Friedman during his opening remarks. Two men, minutes apart, stood and shouted pro-Palestinian slogans. They each held up Palestinian flags before being removed by the Capitol police. Other protesters sang before being ushered out. One blasted a “shofar,” an instrument made of a ram’s horn used by Jews during the High Holidays. He prefaced it with the traditional chant “tekiah” that precedes the blowing of the shofar. A woman shouted, “Do not confirm David Friedman. He is a war criminal!” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Donald Trump charts new Mideast course; maybe no separate Palestine
Charting a striking new course for the Middle East, President Donald Trump on Wednesday withheld clear support for an independent Palestine and declared he could endorse a one-nation solution to the long and deep dispute between Palestinians and Israel. The American president, signaling a new era of comity between the U.S. and Israel after rocky relations under President Barack Obama, said he was more interested in an agreement that leads to peace than in any particular path to get there. Standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump broke not only with recent U.S. presidents but also distanced the United States from the prevailing position of much of the world. While Trump urged Netanyahu to “hold off” on Jewish settlement construction in territory the Palestinians claim for their future state, he offered unwavering support for Israel, a pledge he appeared to substantiate with his vague comments about the shape of any agreement. While it once appeared that a two-state solution was the “easier of the two” options for the Palestinians and Israel, Trump said he’d be open to alternatives. “I’m looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like,” he told reporters. “I can live with either one.” The United States has formally backed the two-state solution as official policy since 2002, when President George W. Bush said in the White House Rose Garden that his vision was “two states, living side by side in peace and security.” In practice, the U.S. already had embraced the policy informally. President Bill Clinton, who oversaw the Oslo Accords in the 1990s that were envisioned as a stepping stone to Palestinian statehood, said before leaving office that resolution to the conflict required a viable Palestinian state. Separately on Wednesday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called on Netanyahu to end settlement building and expressed “willingness to resume a credible peace process ” Also on Wednesday, CIA chief Mike Pompeo secretly held talks in the West Bank with Abbas, the first high-level meeting between the Palestinian leader and a Trump administration official, senior Palestinian officials said. The White House wouldn’t comment on the meeting All serious peace negotiations in recent decades have assumed the emergence of an independent Palestine. The alternatives appear to offer dimmer prospects for peace, given Palestinian demands for statehood. Dozens of countries, including the U.S., reaffirmed their support for a two-state accord at an international conference in Paris last month, before Trump’s inauguration. In Cairo on Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “There is no Plan B to the situation between Palestinians and Israelis but a two-state solution. … Everything must be done to preserve that possibility.” At one point Wednesday, Trump noted the need for compromise in achieving any Mideast peace. Netanyahu interjected: “Both sides.” On terrorism and other matters, there appeared little daylight between the leaders. Echoing language used by Trump over a need to combat “radical Islamic extremism,” Netanyahu said that for peace to be sustainable, two “prerequisites” must be met: “Recognition of the Jewish state and Israel’s security needs west of the Jordan” River. While a two-state solution would involve Israel ceding occupied territory that is strategically and religiously significant, many in the country believe a single binational state would be even more difficult to maintain. It would mean granting millions of Palestinians citizenship and voting rights, threatening Israel’s Jewish majority and its Jewish character. Trump’s campaign platform made no mention of a Palestinian state, and his inner circle included allies of the West Bank settler movement. A delegation of settlement leaders was invited to Trump’s inauguration. But after weeks of dancing around the issue of expanded Israeli settlement construction, Trump asked Netanyahu to “hold back on settlements for a bit.” In recent weeks, Netanyahu has approved construction of more than 6,000 new settler homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast War. He also allowed Parliament to pass a law retroactively legalizing some 4,000 settlement homes built on private Palestinian land. Still, Netanyahu indicated he was open to some sort of arrangement. “We’ll work something out but I’d like to see a deal be made. I think a deal will be made,” he said. And Naftali Bennet, the head of Israel’s pro-settler Jewish Home Party, hailed the new atmosphere between Trump and Netanyahu, saying: “The Palestinian flag was today lowered from the mast and replaced with the Israeli flag.” American presidents have long struck a delicate balance in addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stressing the close U.S. friendship with Israel but also sometimes calling out Israel for actions seen as undermining peace efforts, such as expanding settlements. Trump and Netanyahu also were to discuss Iran and the president’s campaign pledge to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. On Wednesday, Trump said that he’d like to see the embassy move and said his administration is studying the issue closely. Palestinians and Arab governments have warned that such a move could be deeply destabilizing. After repeatedly clashing with Obama, including over a U.N. Security Council resolution in December condemning Israeli settlements, Netanyahu has seemed relieved by Trump’s arrival. He even recounted his personal relationships with members of Trump’s family, including son-in-law Jared Kushner, whom Trump has previously described as the man who could mediate a Middle East peace deal. “Can I reveal, Jared, how long we’ve known you?” Netanyahu said with a chuckle. “I’ve known the president and his family and his team for a long time and there is no greater supporter of the Jewish people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Israel accuses Barack Obama of anti-Israeli ‘shameful move’ at UN
An Israeli official on Friday accused President Barack Obama of colluding with the Palestinians in a “shameful move against Israel at the U.N.” after learning the White House did not intend to veto a Security Council resolution condemning settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem the day before. “President Obama and Secretary Kerry are behind this shameful move against Israel at the U.N.,” the official said. “The U.S administration secretly cooked up with the Palestinians an extreme anti-Israeli resolution behind Israel’s back which would be a tail wind for terror and boycotts and effectively make the Western Wall occupied Palestinian territory,” he said calling it “an abandonment of Israel which breaks decades of US policy of protecting Israel at the UN.” Earlier he said Israel’s prime minister turned to President-elect Donald Trump to help head off the critical U.N. resolution. Although the U.S. opposes the settlements, it has traditionally used its veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council to block resolutions condemning Israel, saying that disputes between Israel and the Palestinians must be resolved through negotiations. But after eight years of failed peace efforts during the Obama Administration, Israel has expressed concern the outgoing president would take an audacious step to leave his mark on the region. In recent weeks, the White House had been especially secretive about its deliberations. The Israeli official’s admission marked a final chapter in the icy relations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama over the last eight years, and signaled an era of close ties between Israel and the incoming Trump administration. The Egyptian-sponsored resolution had demanded that Israel halt settlement activities in occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians and declared that existing settlements “have no legal validity.” But under heavy Israeli pressure, Egypt called off a planned vote in the Security Council hours before it was to take place. In the diplomatic activity ahead of the postponement, both Netanyahu and Trump issued nearly identical statements urging the U.S. to veto the measure. “After becoming aware that the administration would not veto the anti-Israel resolution, Israeli officials reached out to Trump’s transition team to ask for the president-elect’s help to avert the resolution,” the Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing behind-the-scenes diplomatic activity. On Friday, Egypt said its president had received a call from Trump in which they both agreed to give the incoming U.S. administration a chance to try and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The call came hours after Egypt indefinitely postponed the U.N. vote. A statement from the Egyptian presidency said the two men spoke by phone early Friday and agreed on “the importance of giving a chance for the new American administration to deal in a comprehensive way with the different aspects of the Palestinian issue with the aim of achieving a comprehensive and a final resolution.” A senior Palestinian official, speaking anonymously according to protocol, said Egypt didn’t consult with the Palestinians about delaying the vote and it was a “complete shock” for them. Egypt represents Arab states on the security council. Egypt is the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, and the two countries have close security ties in a shared struggle against Islamic militants. He said attempts are still underway to bring the resolution to vote after Egypt called it off as there are still several other sponsors- Venezuela, Malaysia, Senegal and New Zealand – that could present it. The U.S., along with the Palestinians and nearly all of the international community, opposes Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as obstacles to peace. Some 600,000 Israelis live in the two territories, which the Palestinians seek as part of a future independent state. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war. Trump has signaled he will be far more sympathetic to Israel. His campaign platform made no mention of the establishment of a Palestinian state, a core policy objective of Democratic and Republican presidents over the past two decades. He also has vowed to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that would put the U.S. at odds with the Palestinians and almost the entire remainder of the international community, and his pick for ambassador to Israel, Jewish-American lawyer David Friedman, is a donor and vocal supporter of the settlements. The proposed resolution would have been more than symbolic. While it did not call for imposing sanctions on Israel, its language could have hindered Israel’s negotiating position in future peace talks. Given the widespread international opposition to the settlements, it would have been nearly impossible for the Trump administration to reverse it. It remained unclear Friday whether the measure would come up for a vote in the council before Obama leaves office. In a Christmas greeting on Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said: “Despite the Israeli occupation, our presence in our homeland and the preservation of our cultural and national heritage are the most important form of resistance in the face of the darkness of a foreign colonialist occupying power.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
GOP hopeful Mike Huckabee says West Bank is part of Israel
Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee waded into Middle East politics on Tuesday by declaring the West Bank to be part of Israel. Huckabee was speaking to reporters at Ancient Shiloh, for which a modern settlement nearby is named and where tradition holds the ancient Israelites kept the tabernacle with Moses’ tablets on its way to Jerusalem. “I am delighted tonight to be here at Shiloh. It is an exciting place and an important place. It is the place where the tabernacle once was. It’s a place of Biblical history,” he said. He told reporters “if you’re going to visit Israel you should visit all of Israel, and that would include Judea and Samaria,” the biblical names for the West Bank. His comments on the West Bank are at odds with U.S policy. Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians demand the area, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, for a future state. The fate of West Bank settlements is one of the core issues at the heart of the conflict. Huckabee is visiting Israel to meet with officials to discuss the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
