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Key Takeaways From Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan

Key Takeaways From Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan would give Israel much of what it has long demanded -- and offer the Palestinians far less than they have been ready to accept in previous rounds of U.S.-led negotiations.

Trump said at the White House Tuesday that “I have done a lot for Israel,” and now “it is only reasonable that I have to do a lot for the Palestinians or it just wouldn’t be fair.” But Palestinian leaders quickly rejected the plan, saying in a tweet that it “recognizes Israel’s illegal colonization and annexation of occupied lands.”

Key Takeaways From Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan

Here are key takeaways from the plan Trump offered alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the complex geopolitics behind the proposal:

Path to Statehood

The Trump plan holds out the prospect for a “contiguous” territory for a Palestinian state once conditions are met. Those conditions include demands of the Palestinians -- such as the “rejection of terrorism,” which Trump said involves stopping “the malign activities of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other enemies of peace.”

The plan also demands an end to corruption, a halt to the incitement of hatred against Israel and a permanent end to financial compensation to the families of militants.In return, the Palestinians would gain a form of statehood far short of what they have long envisioned.

A summary from the White House says Israel will retain security responsibility west of the Jordan River, while “over time” the Palestinians would work with Israel and the U.S. “to assume more security responsibility.”

Fate of Jerusalem

The plan says Jerusalem would remain Israel’s “sovereign capital” and would stay “an undivided city.” That reinforces Trump’s action last year when he angered much of the Arab world by moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Palestinians have long demanded that east Jerusalem be made the capital of its independent state. Trump’s plan provides instead that “the sovereign capital of the State of Palestine” would be in Jerusalem-area Palestinian villages, including outside the city’s municipal boundaries. Trump said the U.S. would “proudly” open an embassy there.

Jerusalem is home to the Temple Mount, the holiest site for Jews, who come from around the world to pray at the Western Wall, the last remaining supporting wall of the biblical temple. Muslims revere the same plateau as the Noble Sanctuary, where the Al-Aqsa mosque stands as the third-holiest place in Islam, after Mecca and Medina.

Trump’s plan promised that “all Muslims who wish to visit peacefully and pray” at the mosque will be able to do so. But the plan wouldn’t give the Palestinians any sovereignty over the Old City.

Redrawing the Map

Palestinians claim the territory on the West Bank of the Jordan River as the core of a future state. Trump’s plan would allow Israel to keep its existing, internationally disputed settlements on the West Bank and immediately pursue Netanyahu’s pledge to annex those housing developments. “Israel doesn’t have to wait at all,” said David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

But the plan calls for a four-year ban on new Israeli settlements and the expansion of existing ones in the territory designated for the Palestinian state.

Refugees and Jobs

Trump didn’t address the issue of Palestinian refugees on Tuesday. But Netanyahu indicated the proposal would settle Palestinian refugees outside of Israel’s borders. That rejects the Palestinians’ long-sought “right of return” to land they fled or were expelled from in fighting surrounding Israel’s 1948 establishment.

The plan raises options, including absorbing Palestinians into a new state or into nations that agree to accept as many as 5,000 refugees a year for 10 years.

What to do with the millions of descendants of the Palestinians refugees has long been one of the thorniest issues in peace talks. Israel has said accepting an influx of Palestinians would be tantamount to the destruction of the Jewish state.

Trump said that his plan will provide a million new jobs over the next 10 years, cut poverty in half and boost economic growth if it’s executed by the Palestinian authority. Trump said it will end the “cycle of Palestinian dependency” upon charity and foreign aid.

Arab Reaction

Although Trump thanked Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates for the “incredible work” they’ve done, the Arab response has been muted at best.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt didn’t attend the announcement of the deal. As two of America’s closest Middle East allies, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are essential for Trump, who will need them to endorse a deal and prod the Palestinians to accept the terms. Egypt, later Tuesday, called for peace talks to resume under U.S. sponsorship.

But leaders of the Mideast nations are mindful that their citizens would oppose a deal that’s seen as one-sided in favoring the Israelis.

In particular, Jordan is expected to come under pressure to oppose the plan because its population is largely of Palestinian descent.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in a statement that an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital should be formed along the June 4, 1967 territorial lines. He warned against the consequences of Israeli annexation of Palestinian lands, encroachment on holy sites in Jerusalem and imposing new realities on the ground.

--With assistance from Jordan Fabian.

To contact the reporters on this story: Glen Carey in Washington at gcarey8@bloomberg.net;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, Joshua Gallu

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