Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and the US Vice President Mike Pence at the White House, January 27, 2020. – Sipa USA / SIPA
The peace plan for the Middle East of President Trump, presented on Tuesday, was immediately rejected by Palestinians and their allies and greeted cautiously or positively in the rest of the world.
Unanimous Palestinian Rejection
This plan, favorable to Israel to which it gives many guarantees and in particular a green light to annex the settlements, “will not pass” quickly reacted the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. “It is impossible for any child, Arab or Palestinian, to accept not having Jerusalem” as the capital of a Palestinian state, said President Abbas to signify the extent, in his view, of the Palestinian refusal to to see Jerusalem become the “indivisible” capital of Israel as proposed by the American president.
The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, has formally rejected the plan presented to the White House. “We will not accept a substitute for Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Palestine,” said Khalil al-Hayya, a senior movement official. The plan “will not go through” and could lead the Palestinians to a “new phase” in their struggle, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh had warned before President Trump was even announced.
Strong hostility in the region
For the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, this proposal is only an “attempt to eliminate the rights of the Palestinian people, historic and legitimate”. Iran has ruled that “America’s shameful peace plan imposed on the Palestinians is the betrayal of the century and is doomed to failure.” According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, this “stillborn” project is an “occupation plan aimed at killing a two-state solution and extorting from the Palestinian Territories”.
Jordan expressed the opinion of its Minister for Foreign Affairs that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders remains “the only way to a comprehensive and lasting peace”.
Cautious Egypt and Saudi Arabia
Egypt has taken a cautious stance, calling only Israelis and Palestinians for a “careful” and “thorough” review of the plan. “Egypt calls on the two parties concerned to carefully and thoroughly examine the American vision (…) and to open channels of dialogue, under the auspices of the United States, for a resumption of negotiations”, in order to achieve ” a just and comprehensive peace “and” the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, “Cairo said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia “appreciates the efforts of President Trump’s administration to work for a comprehensive peace plan between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,” the Kingdom announced on Wednesday, calling for direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians. King Salman said his “unwavering” support for Palestinian rights in a telephone interview with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The king is on the side of the Palestinians and supports “their choices and what consecrates their hopes and aspirations,” the Saudi Arabian state agency (SPA) reported on Wednesday.
Call for “direct negotiations” between Israeli and Palestinians
Among the United States’ allies, London was the most positive on Tuesday evening, describing the plan as a “serious proposal” which “could constitute a positive step forward”. European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said that the EU would “study and assess the proposals put forward”, while reaffirming its “firm” commitment to “a negotiated solution and viable in two states ”. This formula of “negotiated and viable two-state solution acceptable to both parties” was adopted by the head of German diplomacy, Heiko Maas.
Russia, for its part, advocated “direct negotiations” between the Israelis and the Palestinians, in order to reach a “mutually acceptable compromise”. “We do not know whether the American proposal is mutually acceptable or not. We must wait for the reaction of the parties, “Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Russian agencies.
In New York, the spokesman of the United Nations recalled that the international organization was sticking to the borders defined in 1967. “The position of the United Nations on the two-state solution has been defined over the years by resolutions relevant to the Security Council and the General Assembly to which the secretariat is held, “said Stéphane Dujarric in a press release.
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