Diplomats: Trump ‘Fed Up’ With Netanyahu Dismissing Peace Efforts

Israelis Refuse Every Request to Build Confidence

With no progress to show for months of effort in trying to get a new peace process going in Israel, diplomats say that the Trump Administration is increasingly “fed up” with Israeli officials, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular.

“They want us to implement confidence-building measures in relation to the Palestinians, and we say no to every request,” one Israeli diplomatic source was quoted as saying. He added the US had increasingly urged Israel to remove checkpoints or allow Palestinians more building rights on Palestinian soil, but that Israel keeps citing security concerns to refuse.

Israel has also had a settler representative at every meeting, and they’ve objected to ever US proposal. Given how desperate the Israeli coalition is for settler support, this always stops any US proposal dead in its tracks.

The biggest problem, officials say, is how dismissive Netanyahu appears every time discussions of a Palestinian state, or making any progress at all, comes up. The expectation seems to be that Israel can keep delaying the process until the US gives up.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.