Trump peace plan embraced in Israel, rejected by Palestinians

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — President Donald Trump's long delayed Middle East peace plan won support in Israel on Wednesday but was bitterly rejected by Palestinians facing possible Israeli annexation of key parts of the West Bank. 

Trump, who unveiled the plan on Tuesday at the White House standing alongside Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with no Palestinian representatives on hand, said his initiative could succeed where others had failed.

Major powers and some regional players responded with caution, saying Trump's project deserves study while stressing that a durable solution to the conflict can only emerge through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. 

But Trump's proposals reportedly included no Palestinian input and grants Israel much of what it has sought in decades of international diplomacy, namely control over Jerusalem as its "undivided" capital, rather than a city to share with the Palestinians.

It also offers a US green light for Israel to annex the strategically crucial Jordan Valley — which accounts for around 30 per cent of the West Bank — as well as other Israeli settlements in the area. 

“History knocked on our door last night and gave us a unique opportunity to apply Israeli law on all of the settlements in Judea [and] Samaria,” said Israel’s right-wing Defence Minister Naftali Bennett, using the Israeli term for the occupied West Bank. 

The Blue and White Party led by Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s main election rival in March 2 polls, embraced Trump’s proposals as offering “a strong, viable basis for advancing a peace accord with the Palestinians”, in a statement late Tuesday. 

But the head of Israel’s left-wing coalition Labour-Gesher-Meretz, Amir Peretz, condemned Netanyahu’s expected move towards “unilateral annexations”.

Palestinian state? 

Trump’s proposal foresees the creation of a “contiguous” Palestinian state but under strict conditions, including a requirement that it be “demilitarised”.

On the flashpoint issue of Jerusalem, Trump said Israel should retain control over the city as its “undivided capital”.

At the same time, the Palestinians would be allowed to declare a capital in parts of East Jerusalem beyond an Israeli security wall, the plan said.

The US president also painted a future where some $50 billion in investments would eradicate the misery gripping Palestinians today.

But the Palestinians angrily rejected the entire plan.

“This conspiracy deal will not pass. Our people will take it to the dustbin of history,” Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said.

The Hamas Islamist movement, which runs the Gaza Strip, said it could never accept compromise on Jerusalem being capital of a future state.

Near the town of Tubas in the Jordan Valley on Wednesday, protesters waved Palestinians flags as Israeli soldiers looked on. 

“If the Americans try to implement this plan the Palestinian people will make it fail,” said 63-year-old Khaled Sawafta.

A headline in the Palestinian daily newspaper Al Hayat Al Jadida summed up the sentiment. 

“No! A thousand times No!” it read. 

Mixed international reaction 

International reaction was at best cautiously positive.

The French foreign ministry on Wednesday welcomed Trump’s “efforts” and pledged to “carefully study” his proposal.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called it a “serious proposal”.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, tore into Trump’s deal as “completely unacceptable”.

The ambassadors from three Arab nations — Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — were at the White House, providing some evidence of Trump’s claim to have growing support around the region.

Saudi Arabia said it “appreciates” Trump’s efforts and called for direct Israeli-Palestinian talks.

Russia, a growing force in Mideast politics, sounded sceptical.

“We do not know if the American proposal is mutually acceptable or not,” Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Russian news agencies.

Netanyahu was due in Moscow on Wednesday to present the plan in person to President Vladimir Putin.

Impeachment, indictment 

Trump himself is in the midst of an impeachment battle over his alleged abuse of power and he faces a difficult reelection campaign in November.

Pro-Israel evangelical Christians form a key part of his voter base and they have backed his frequent moves to bolster Israel’s position in the Middle East.

Netanyahu was formally indicted on three corruption charges on Tuesday after he abandoned an attempt to seek parliamentary immunity.

His right-wing Likud faces a neck-and-neck race with rival Gantz’s centrist Blue and White in a month, with Netanyahu seemingly gambling that his high-profile partnership with Trump will galvanise his support.