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PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas warned the White House today against “alternatives and illusion” aimed at preventing the creation of a Palestinian state.
He was reacting to a provocative interview in Palestinian newspaper Al Quds by US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner, who warned that he would publish a “peace deal” with or without Palestinian input.
“If President Abbas is ready to go back to the negotiations table, then we are ready to participate in the discussion, but, if it’s not the case, then we are going to make the plan public,” said Mr Kushner, adding that it would be ready soon.
He claimed Mr Abbas is “scared we will release our peace plan and the Palestinian people will actually like it.”
The US official questioned Mr Abbas’s ability or desire to clinch a deal, saying: “He has the same talking points that haven’t changed in the past 25 years. Peace hasn’t been achieved during that period.”
The interview followed a meeting in Jerusalem between Mr Kushner, US Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US ambassador David Friedman “to continue their discussions” on the matter.
Mr Abbas warned that “the US delegation has to realise that there’s no point in looking for alternatives and illusions that are meant to divide the Palestinian homeland and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
Earlier, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh called for implementation of decisions made by the international community which he said will add to “true peace.”
These are, he made clear, based on “a two-state solution, a Palestinian state built on the ’67 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and the creation of an international mechanism to put the peace process back on the right track.”
Israeli daily paper Haaretz reported at the weekend that the Trump administration is seeking to convince Arab monarchies in the Gulf to invest up to $1 billion in economic projects for the Gaza Strip.
The purported goal is to improve security in Gaza and generate momentum before the planned presentation of Washington’s much-vaunted Middle East peace plan.
