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Trump Envoy Says Palestinian Capital in Jerusalem Isn’t a ‘Right’

Trump Envoy Says Palestinian Capital in Jerusalem Isn’t a ‘Right’

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration is signaling it won’t prescribe a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem as part of its long-promised peace plan, leaving the issue to be resolved through direct negotiations.

Only negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians can “resolve the issue of Jerusalem, if it can be resolved,” U.S. special envoy Jason Greenblatt said at a United Nations Security Council debate on Tuesday. He said the issue can’t be resolved at the UN or in “any other capital around the world.”

“That does not mean that the Palestinians can’t aspire to have a capital in East Jerusalem, with creative solutions that attempt to respect all three religions that cherish this incredible city,” he said. “But if there is to be such a solution, only the parties themselves, through direct negotiations, can work this out.”

Palestinian leaders broke off contact with the U.S. administration after President Donald Trump’s decision to move the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, part of which they want as the capital of a future state.

While most UN member nations contend that the Palestinians have a right to establish a state alongside Israel with East Jerusalem as its capital, Greenblatt said the U.S. sees that as an issue to be negotiated.

“It is true that the PLO and the Palestinian Authority continue to assert that East Jerusalem must be a capital for the Palestinians,” he said, referring to the Palestine Liberation Organization. “But let’s remember: An aspiration is not a right.”

He urged participants not to read into his statement “anything about the content of the political portion of the plan,” adding that “aspirations belong at the negotiating table.”

More than two years after Trump chose his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, to create the “deal of the century” by brokering a Middle East peace, few details of the proposal have emerged. Kushner promoted the economic component of the plan at a conference in Bahrain last month. Political details of the peace proposal aren’t expected until sometime after Israeli elections in September.

Greenblatt urged Security Council members to be open to a new approach that doesn’t necessarily abide by the international consensus and UN resolutions, which he said have grown out of sync with the reality on the ground.

“Peace will require honesty and a willingness to consider new ideas, as well as courage and hard compromise,” he said. “This is a time for us to speak to each other candidly, not in stale slogans and talking points.”

To contact the reporter on this story: David Wainer in New York at dwainer3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert, John Harney

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