The Arab League has issued a statement rejecting President Trump’s Israel peace plan, saying it fails to meet the “minimum rights and aspirations of Palestinian people.” They added that they will not cooperate with the US in implementing the plan.
The plan denies Palestinian statehood, and allows Israel’s annexation of much of the West Bank. The US criticized the Arab League as “outdated.” CIA Director Gina Haspel also met with the Palestinians, telling them the US opposes Israeli annexation before the March election.
Haspel’s assurance will almost certainly be seen as hollow by the Palestinians, as the US Ambassador already encouraged Israel to annex territory immediately, saying there was no reason to wait.
On top of the Arab League’s opposition, Arab diplomats who were present at the US announcement also say they were not fully briefed on the plan, saying they were given only general information, and it only became apparent later that they also could not support it.
Surprising that “give Israel all it wants” isn’t flying with the Arabs. If Trump was sincere and thought about it sooner or later he might come to the prior official US idea, 1967 borders with mutually agreed land swaps.
Somehow I think the Trump admin did not expect all Arab states to reject this “steal of the century”. Weren’t there meetings held with the Gulf states last year to discuss the plan? I thought the rich Arab states were going to bankroll it (can’t imagine expects US taxpayers to kick in the $50 billion). I think the plan was intended to fail in the first place but I suspect Kushner expected tacit support from Arab gulf states would provide a fig-leaf for Israel when they start annexing the west bank.
You are right about Trump administration not expecting rejection of this Joke of a Century. Trump (or most likely consensus of the Blob), did believe in outright rejection, more like muddle to hide behind. Now a problem.
Those Arab states attending may have done it on purpose. To create the illusion that they were going to back the deal — while just going along with the folly of this joke of the century. I somehow suspect they were intentionally acting like the Arabs of old. This was clear from the outset— Saudi Arabia was not at the table, the author of the plan US utterly ignored.
So now those present claim they were misled, and US plan is twisting in the wind. Palestinians broke relations with US and Israel, a de facto rejection of Oslo agreements where Palestinians provided a fig leaf to self-governance freeing Israel from the stigma of occupation , while giving it space to dissect Palestinian territories into disconnected open air concentration camps.
What now? OIC will reject it as well, as the opposition to the plan is even stronger in non Arab Moslem world.
What Trump must know is that wars in the Middle East and out meddling on behalf of Israel is very unpopular in US armed forces. Bernie Sanders is picking up donations from them, as disgust with Trump’s is growing.
There was a belief for a long time that Trump will hold back the blob. Now he is one of them, inciting for war on Iran, and muddying waters in Syrian, Yemeni and Libyan efforts of other parties to end conflicts.
As for Gulf states, they were happy to ape US anti-Iranian line, until it became clear to them that US expects them to be the lead proponents in the war, with US “helping ” them, in order to lick up the choicest pieces along the way.
It worked well in Yemen until UAE withdrew, and Saudis, the lead protagonists taking not very helpful positions elsewhere.
Those are the Arabs the Plan imagines will give $50 billion to fund its promises, all of the money that it promises. None if US money, and certainly none is Israeli money. Israel does not even turn over all the taxes it collects as customs duties on Palestinians imports, as required by Oslo.