Palestinian leaders rejected the Middle East peace plan spearheaded by Jared Kushner before President Trump outlined the details of the plan on Tuesday.
Trump announced the plan alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with no Palestinian representatives present. The plan would allow Israel to annex parts of the West Bank while Palestine would “more than double” its territory, Trump said. The plan would also provide $50 billion in international funding for Palestinians, but temporarily bar them from forming a military.
Unlike past talks, Kushner did not involve both sides in negotiations and crafted the plan with his team in consultation with the Israelis. Kushner has not spoken with Palestinian negotiators since 2017, when Trump moved the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
"As everyone knows, I have done a lot for Israel," Trump said. "It is only reasonable that I have to do a lot for the Palestinians — or just wouldn't be fair. Now, don't clap for that, OK. But it's true. It would not be fair."
Jared says Palestinians will “screw up” like they have “every other” time:
Kushner told CNN that the plan offers Palestinians their best chance for a “better life.”
It’s a “great deal,” he said. If the Palestinians reject it, “They’re going to screw up another opportunity, like they’ve screwed up every other opportunity that they’ve ever had in their existence.”
Despite Kushner’s comments, the plan was widely panned in the United States.
"This plan was negotiated with no one but the Israelis, and thus it's not a peace plan at all," said Sen. Chris Murphy. "Peace can only be achieved through agreement between Israel and the Palestinian people. By setting these new terms, it makes it harder for Israel to compromise later. Any claim that this plan envisions a Palestinian state is just false. The plan allows Israel to control all security matters inside the Palestinian 'state', and thus it's not a state at all."
Palestinians say “a thousand no’s”:
“After the nonsense that we heard today we say a thousand no’s to the Deal of The Century,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday.
"We reject it, and we demand the international community not be a partner to it because it contradicts the basics of international law and inalienable Palestinian rights," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Monday. "It is nothing but a plan to finish off the Palestinian cause."
