United States President Donald Trump has released his long awaited Middle East peace plan, with a promise to keep Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital.
Alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump presented to officials and the media at the White House his plan, which also proposes an independent Palestinian State with Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements.
“My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides, a realistic two-state solution that resolves the risk of Palestinian statehood to Israel’s security,” Trump said.
Under Trump’s proposal, Israel will be given sovereignty over all major settlement blocs in the West Bank as sealed in his statement, “No Palestinians or Israelis will be uprooted from their homes.”
Palestinians on the other hand, could control 70 percent of the West Bank and be given additional territories at the southern portion of Israel as presented in a conceptual map included in the peace plan.
Although the plan sets Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided capital,” it also allows a Palestinian capital in portions of East Jerusalem.
Under the 80-page proposal, the White House outlined a $50-billion fund to support infrastructure, business and tourism investments aimed at bolstering the Palestinian economy, as well as those of neighboring Arab States.
Trump announced this during White House event saying the $50-B in international financing will be handed out once the plan’s conditions are met, including the “rejection of terrorism.”
“The Palestinian people has grown distressful after years of unfulfilled promises. Yet I know, they are ready to escape their tragic past and realize a great destiny. But we must break free from yesterday’s failed approaches,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, Trump’s peace plan was received with protests in Palestine, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed it as a “conspiracy.”
“I say to Trump and Netanyahu — Jerusalem is not for sale, all our rights are not for sale and are not for bargain. And your deal, the conspiracy, will not pass,” Abbas said in a televised address at the Ramallah in the West Bank.
