The Trump administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal provides for a Palestinian state in 85-90 percent of the West Bank, with the sovereign capital of Palestine located in “most of the Arab neighborhoods” of East Jerusalem, an Israeli TV report claimed Wednesday.
Based on what it said was information conveyed by a participant at a recent briefing by “a senior American,” the Channel 13 news report specified that the so-called “deal of the century” provides for Jerusalem to be divided, with Israel maintaining sovereignty in west Jerusalem, parts of east Jerusalem and the “holy basin,” including the Old City and its immediate environs. However, it added that the “holy basin” area would be “jointly run” with the Palestinians, Jordan and possibly other countries.
The White House dismissed the story as unfounded speculation. “As in the past, speculations regarding the peace plan are inaccurate. We have no further reaction,” it said in a statement quoted by Channel 13.
In addition to the 85-90% of the West Bank coming under Palestinian sovereignty, the Trump administration will reportedly also propose various land swaps — enabling Israel to extend its sovereignty into unspecified areas of the West Bank, in exchange for current Israeli territory. Channel 13 news (the new iteration of what until Tuesday was Channel 10 news) said the scale of such land swaps was not yet clear.
Regarding settlements, the TV report said major settlement blocs would be annexed to Israel. “Isolated” settlements — it named Yitzhar and Itamar as examples — would not be forcibly evacuated, but would also not be allowed to expand, and would thus be “dried out.” Outposts defined as illegal under Israeli law would be evacuated.
The report made no mention of the plan’s proposals regarding Palestinian refugees, nor of the intended fate of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
It said the Americans anticipate that the Palestinians will reject the proposal in its current form; Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority has been boycotting the Trump administration since President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.
It said that the administration expects Israel, by contrast, to say yes to the proposal.
The TV report noted that the proposal would not be publicly unveiled until after Israel’s goes to the polls on April 9.
The reported terms of the accord, the TV report assessed, are not as good as those offered by Israel to the Palestinians, without success, by prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, by contrast, has ruled out full Palestinian statehood in the foreseeable future though he has in the past expressed conditional support for a two-state solution. He has also insisted on Israel maintaining overall security control of the West Bank, has rejected the notion of dividing Jerusalem, and has said no settlements will be evacuated.
In rare public comments on the Trump plan last October, Jason Greenblatt, the president’s special envoy for international negotiations, told The Times of Israel in New York that the proposal “will include a resolution to all of the core issues, including the refugee issue, and will also focus on Israel’s security concerns.” In fact, Greenblatt added, the proposal will “be heavily focused on Israeli security needs.”
The Trump administration on Wednesday dismissed an Israeli TV report that said its forthcoming peace plan would offer Palestinians a state in most of the West Bank, with parts of East Jerusalem as its capital.
Channel 13 reported hours earlier that a “senior American” official had said Trump’s peace proposal would provide for Jerusalem to be divided, with Israel maintaining sovereignty in west Jerusalem, parts of east Jerusalem and the “holy basin,” including the Old City and its immediate environs. However, it added that the “holy basin” area would be “jointly run” with the Palestinians, Jordan and possibly other countries.
“While I respect @BarakRavid, his report on Israel’s Ch. 13 is not accurate,” tweeted Jason Greenblatt, the White House special envoy for Mideast peace, referring to the reporter who broke the story. “Speculation about the content of the plan is not helpful. Very few people on the planet know what is in it.”
Immediately after the TV report aired, right-wing politicians in Israel protested any US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian deal that would provide the Palestinians with a state. The report said the proposal would offer a Palestinian state in 85-90 percent of the West Bank, with major settlement blocs to be annexed by Israel, along various so-called land swaps.
The New Right party, founded last month in the wake of Israel’s move to early elections in April, said it would not be part of a government that would agree to a two-state solution with Palestinians.
Greenblatt predicted that there would be more ostensible leaks relating to the US proposal, and that they should not be given credibility.
“Over the coming period, unnamed sources will peddle narratives to the media & others based on motivations that are far from pure,” he said. “Peddling false, distorted or biased stories to the media is irresponsible & harmful to the process. Israelis & Palestinians deserve better.”
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