The Times of Israel is liveblogging the official announcement of the US administration’s Mideast peace proposal and other news Tuesday as it unfolds.
Iran condemns Trump peace plan as ‘treason of the century’
Iran’s foreign ministry says US President Donald Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan amounts to the “treason of the century” and is bound to fail.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says on Twitter that the “so-called ‘Vision for Peace’ is simply the dream project of a bankruptcy-ridden real estate developer,” in reference to Trump.
“But it is a nightmare for the region and the world and, hopefully, a wake-up call for all the Muslims who have been barking up the wrong tree,” writes Zarif, whose country does not recognize Israel.
The so-called "Vision for Peace" is simply the dream project of a bankruptcy-ridden real estate developer.
But it is a nightmare for the region and the world
And, hopefully, a wake-up call for all the Muslims who have been barking up the wrong tree.#LetsUniteForPalestinianspic.twitter.com/j2CJ9JaH9c
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 28, 2020
Hezbollah slams Trump’s ‘deal of shame,’ says it will have negative consequences
The Hezbollah terror group attacks the Trump administration’s “deal of shame,” saying it comes at the expense of the Palestinian people.
The organization says the American offer “is a very dangerous step which will have negative consequences for the region and its people.”
Emirates says US peace plan ‘offers important starting point for negotiations’
The United Arab Emirates says the US peace proposal “offers an important starting point for a return to negotiations within a US-led international framework.”
Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba says the UAE “appreciates continued US efforts to reach a Palestine-Israel peace agreement.” It says the new plan is “a serious initiative” and stresses that “the only way to guarantee a lasting solution is to reach an agreement between all concerned parties.”
German FM says US proposal raises questions that need to be addressed
Germany’s foreign minister is reacting cautiously to the Middle East peace plan announced by US President Donald Trump, saying it raises questions that need to be addressed.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says in a statement that “only a negotiated two-state solution that is acceptable to both parties can lead to lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.” He adds that “on that basis, every impetus laid out in such a way as to set the long-stalled Middle East peace process in motion again is to be welcomed.”
Maas says the US proposal “raises questions” that Germany will discuss with its European partners. Those, he says, include the involvement of the two sides in a negotiating process and “its relationship to recognized international parameters and legal positions.”
Turkey rejects US ‘annexation plan that kills 2-state, usurps Palestinian lands’
Turkey strongly rejects the US peace plan for the Israelis and Palestinians, describing it as “an annexation plan that aims to kill the two-state solution and usurp Palestinian lands.”
A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement also rejects US President Donald Trump’s declaration to keep Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital, saying “Jerusalem is our red line.”
“The United States’ so-call peace plan was still-born,” the ministry says in a statement. “The Palestinian people and their lands cannot be bought with money.”
The ministry says: “we will not support any plan that is not accepted by Palestine. Peace cannot come to the Middle East without an end to the occupation.”
EU foreign policy chief says will study US plan, supports return to negotiations
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the US peace proposal is “an occasion to relaunch the urgently needed efforts towards a negotiated and viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
He says the EU will study the plan, based on its commitment to “a negotiated and viable two-state solution that takes into account the legitimate aspirations of both the Palestinians and the Israelis.”
He says the union “reaffirms its readiness to work towards the resumption of meaningful negotiations to resolve all permanent status issues and to achieve a just and lasting peace.”
US plan: Keep status quo at Temple Mount — but allow all faiths to pray
The US peace proposal says the status quo at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount should be maintained, but also that all faiths should be able to pray there — which is a change from the status quo.
The plan says “the status quo at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif should
continue uninterrupted.” It goes on to say “Jerusalem’s holy sites should remain open and available for peaceful worshippers and tourists of all faiths. People of every faith should be permitted to pray on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, in a manner that is fully respectful to their religion.”
continue uninterrupted.” It goes on to say “Jerusalem’s holy sites should remain open and available for peaceful worshippers and tourists of all faiths. People of every faith should be permitted to pray on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, in a manner that is fully respectful to their religion.”
Jews and Christians can today visit the Temple Mount, but only Muslims are allowed to pray there.
US proposal includes possible transfer of Arab ‘triangle’ towns to Palestinians
The US peace proposal includes a reference to the possibility of land swaps that would see Israeli Arab towns in the so-called “triangle” southeast of Haifa handed over to Palestinian control — a possibility that has long been rejected by Israeli Arab leaders.
“These communities, which largely self-identify as Palestinian, were originally designated to fall under Jordanian control during the negotiations of the Armistice Line of 1949, but ultimately were retained by Israel for military reasons that have since been mitigated.”
Abbas: ‘We’ll send US plan to dustbin of history, our rights are not for sale’
In his first public reaction to the newly announced US peace proposal, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas makes his opinion clear.
“No, no and no to the ‘Deal of the Century,'” he says. “Jerusalem is not for sale. All of our rights are not for sale or bartering.”
He says the Palestinian people will send the US plan to “the dustbin of history.”
He calls the plan “the slap of the century” and says the Palestinians will respond to it with “slaps” of their own.
US Embassy in Israel warns Americans after Trump’s peace plan announcement
The US Embassy in Israel has issued a warning to American citizens following Trump’s peace plan announcement.
The embassy statement prohibits US government employees and their families from travel in most of Jerusalem’s Old City, the West Bank and Gaza Strip in light of “widespread calls for demonstrations” by Palestinians.
“United States citizens should avoid areas where crowds have gathered and where there is increased police and/or military presence,” the embassy statement says.
Jordan warns of ‘dangerous consequences’ to unilateral Israeli action
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warns of “dangerous consequences to unilateral steps by Israel, which threaten to create a new reality on the ground.”
He says a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the two-state solution, is “the only path to a lasting, comprehensive peace.”
Bennett: We support annexation, won’t allow Palestinian state
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett is naturally supportive of Israeli extending sovereignty “over all settlement” areas in the coming days.
However, he says, “We will not allow the Israeli government to recognize a Palestinian state under any circumstances.”
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