Donald Trump has met Israeli leaders in Washington ahead of the unveiling on Tuesday of his much delayed Middle East “peace plan”, amid a rising global chorus of doubt about its timing and substance.
The choreography between the US and Israel has been interpreted as a convenient distraction for both Trump, who faces an impeachment trial, and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces three criminal corruption indictments and an uncertain election campaign.
Israeli media, citing unnamed Israeli officials, have reported that the measures would be extremely favourable to the country, allowing it to annex much of the Palestinian territories, including Jewish settlements, and all of contested Jerusalem. The Palestinians may be granted some form of self-rule, but under tight restrictions.
The Palestinian prime minister called on Monday for world powers to boycott the initiative. “This is a plan to protect Trump from impeachment and protect Netanyahu from prison. It is not a Middle East peace plan,” Mohammad Shtayyeh told a cabinet meeting.
Q&AWhat is in Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan?
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Donald Trump has unveiled his much-touted Middle East peace plan, tweeting a map showing his vision for an even further depleted Palestinian state than that envisioned by the Oslo peace agreement in 1993.
The key points of the proposed plan are:
- Establish Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided” capital, with a potential Palestinian capital to the east and north of the city.
- Recognise the vast majority of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory as part of the country. A Palestinian state would receive territory, mostly desert, near Gaza to compensate for the loss of about 30% of the West Bank. Gaza and the West Bank would be linked by high speed rail.
- Recognise the Jordan valley, which makes up about a third of the occupied West Bank, as part of Israel.
- Offer a path to some form of Palestinian statehood but with no army, and overarching Israeli security control in some areas, including over the sea. The plan also sets a series of conditions the Palestinians have to meet before receiving independence including the “complete dismantling of Hamas”, which governs Gaza.
- The possibility of stripping Israeli citizenship from tens of thousands of Arab Israelis who live in 10 border towns, with those towns and their residents being included into any future state of Palestine.
- Recognise sections of the desert bordering Egypt as part of any future Palestinian state.
- Refuse Palestinian refugees the “right of return” to homes lost to Israel in previous conflicts.
Netanyahu has sought to play up his cosy relationship with Trump domestically and to promote himself as uniquely able to extract concessions from the US. Before taking off for Washington, he said he hoped to “make history”.
On Monday, Trump had private meetings with both Netanyahu and his election opponent, Benny Gantz, in the Oval Office. Washington invited the opposition leader to make sure whoever becomes Israel’s next leader after the 2 March election will be on board in advance.
Standing beside Netanyahu in the Oval Office, Trump said the plan would be announced on Tuesday at noon Washington time (5pm GMT). “And it’s a very big plan,” he said, adding he had already secured Netanyahu’s support.
He said the initiative was something the Palestinians “should want” but acknowledged they “won’t want it initially”. “I think in the end they will. I think in the end they’re going to want it. It’s very good for them,” he said.
In his remarks, Trump said he hoped Netanyahu would implement the plan in the next few weeks. It was not clear if he meant Israel unilaterally imposing the proposals or persuading the Palestinians to agree within that timeframe.
Later on Monday, Gantz said he had held a “superb” meeting with Trump. “The president’s peace plan is a significant and historic milestone, indeed,” he said. “Immediately after the elections, I will work toward implementing it from within a stable functioning Israeli government, in tandem with the other countries in our region.”
Netanyahu and Trump will meet again on Tuesday and hold a joint press conference. The attention-grabbing event is sure to overshadow a planned discussion on the same day in Israel’s parliament about Netanyahu’s indictments.
Few political aspects of the proposal have been disclosed, apart from an economic conference last summer that sought to raise money from Gulf countries to fund it. The plan was drafted by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with input from the US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, a vocal supporter of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In a clear signal to his nationalist base, Netanyahu invited several settler leaders to join him in Washington for the trip.
The Guardian understands that unlike previous attempts that have focused on getting Israeli and Palestinians leaders to find common ground, Washington’s new plan is dozens of pages long and has been drafted as a set of detailed suggestions.
Sensitive issues that have tripped up past efforts, such as the rights of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, will be addressed.
Trump’s administration has promoted itself – especially to a large section of US evangelical voters who ardently back the Jewish state – as the most pro-Israel in the country’s history. Washington has already implemented a number of historic changes in the region.
It reversed decades of its policy by refraining from endorsing the internationally backed two-state solution. It has also recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, cut millions of dollars in aid to Palestinians, and announced that it no longer views Israeli settlements in occupied territory as “inconsistent with international law”.
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said last week that the Palestinian leadership had a “clear and unwavering position” to reject any Trump-led initiatives. Palestinians fear the plan is an attempt to bully or bribe them to relinquish long-held demands for a state and a resolution for Palestinian refugees. They anticipate the plan could be implemented by the US and Israel whether they agree to it or not.
Saeb Erekat, the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, referred to it as a “hoax and fraud”.
The leader of Hamas, the militant group that is in power in the Gaza Strip, also warned that Trump’s plan would not pass, and could lead to violence. This “new plot aimed against Palestine is bound to fail” and could push the Palestinians to a “new phase in their struggle” against Israel, Ismail Haniyeh said.
Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, also dismissed the deal, tweeting that the “delusional” plan would be “dead on arrival”.
Last year, former European politicians – including six ex-prime ministers – called on European governments to reject any plan unless it is fair to Palestinians.
Aid groups are also concerned about a negative impact. Noah Gottschalk, Oxfam America’s Humanitarian Policy Lead, said last week that the proposal was not likely to be a peace deal, but “a roadmap to permanent occupation”.