Briefing journalists after a meeting with President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that he hasn’t seen the US peace plan yet, and indeed that he hasn’t even been given a timetable on when such a plan might be released by the US.
Not that the Israeli premier seemed to mind. Indeed, he suggested the subject of Palestine was barely broached, with less than 15 minutes of discussion on the matter, and the rest of the meeting focusing entirely on Iran.
Netanyahu seemed quite comfortable with the idea that peace talks aren’t going to happen at any rate, saying that the Palestinians are “trying to run away from negotiations.” Palestinian officials have questioned whether the US can be an arbiter in such talks with President Trump having declared the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
So Israel’s far-right government can get back to the narrative that they really wanted peace, if only it was available, secure in the knowledge that they’re probably not going to have to talk their way out of any sudden offers of talks.
Netanyahu assured President Trump he has “no desire to govern the Palestinians and every desire to control,” when asked by reporters about Palestinian statehood. This is a roundabout way of saying the Palestinians won’t have a state, but neither will they be given any measure of equal protection under the Israeli government, with maintaining control over the region and the occupied persons simply a continuing objective.