Report: Trump Might Present ‘Peace’ Plan Despite Palestinian Refusal to Negotiate

trump abbas
AP Photo/Evan Vucci

TEL AVIV — The Trump administration is weighing the option of presenting a Middle East so-called peace plan even if the Palestinian Authority refuses to come to the bargaining table, according to unnamed U.S. officials cited in a report.

Barak Ravid of Israel’s Channel 10 News reported at Axios.com the Trump administration might release its “peace plan even if the crisis with the Palestinian Authority continues and Palestinian President Abbas refuses to come to the negotiating table.”

Ravid’s report continued:

The bottom line: The U.S. officials say the administration won’t impose on the Israelis or Palestinians to accept the plan, but may release it so the parties and international community can judge it at face value.

The officials said no decisions were made yet in this regard but stressed the president and his “peace team” are not ruling out this option.

Ravid quoted one U.S. official as saying:

Since it’s not done, we haven’t decided yet how we are going to put it forward and what happens if one of the sides isn’t ready to come to the table. We are not there yet. But we are very optimistic that all relevant countries who want to support a peace agreement between the two sides are still waiting for our plan, want to work with us and realize we cannot be replaced. Despite all of the false reports about our plan, we are confident it will be beneficial to both sides and both peoples.

The PA largely cut off contacts with the U.S. following President Donald Trump’s historic decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Trump’s move does not preclude the PA from creating a Palestinian state with a foothold in Jerusalem.

The PA has rejected every statehood plan offered to them, and has bolted all major peace talks. Israel has offered the Palestinians a state in much of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with a shared capital in Jerusalem numerous times. These offers were made at Camp David in 2000, Taba in 2001, the Annapolis Conference in 2007, and more offers were made in 2008 and reportedly in 2014.

Official PA institutions routinely incite against Israel, promote terrorism, and advocate for the dismantlement of the entire Jewish state. It is not clear how granting the terror-supporting PA a state would lead to peace in the region.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas recently exclaimed that he would continue official PA payments to Palestinian prisoners, a grouping that includes convicted terrorists, “until my dying day.” It was reported that the PA’s 2017 budget for payments to terrorists and their families amounts to about half of all foreign aid the PA expects to receive during the next year.

Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.

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