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No Decision on Timing of Mideast Peace Plan Release, Bolton Says

No Decision on Timing of U.S. Peace Plan Release, Bolton Says

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration hasn’t yet decided when to release its long-awaited plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton told reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Wrapping up a three-day visit to Israel, Bolton said Palestinians should move on from Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and focus instead on what else they can get from peace talks. The Palestinian Authority, which demands the eastern part of the holy city for the capital of its hoped-for state, cut off contact with administration officials after Trump’s announcement last December.

Trump, speaking at a U.S. political rally Tuesday, said Israel will have to pay a high price for the U.S. recognition of its claim to Jerusalem, and that Palestinians would also get benefits if they come back to the negotiating table, according to Haaretz.

Bolton said Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his country can’t on its own force Iran to withdraw from Syria. Israel says it won’t accept an Iranian military presence in Syria as the country’s long civil war winds down, and has repeatedly attacked Iranian bases and weapons convoys in Syria in recent months, sparking fears of an escalation. Bolton said such attacks were justified as self-defense.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael S. Arnold in Tel Aviv at marnold48@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Riad Hamade at rhamade@bloomberg.net, Gwen Ackerman

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