Democratic senators, including Sanders and Warren, criticize Trump’s peace plan
In the letter, the senators argued that the proposal undermines “existing US policy regarding the unilateral annexation of Crimea, eastern Ukraine, northern Cyprus and elsewhere.
By ROSSELLA TERCATINFILE PHOTO: Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidates (L-R) Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as billionaire activist Tom Steyer listens after the seventh Democratic 2020 presidential debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., Jan. 14, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS FILE PHOTOS)
A group of Democratic senators, including some top contenders for the party’s presidential nomination, sent a letter to US President Donald Trump Tuesday criticizing his administration’s peace plan for the Middle East, calling it a “one-sided proposal” conceived “without any Palestinian involvement or support.”“Unilateral implementation of this one-sided proposal will risk eliminating any remaining prospects for achievement of a peaceful and viable two-state solution,” read the beginning of the letter signed by Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.).Sanders, Warren and Klobuchar are running to win the Democratic party's nomination ahead of the 2020 US elections.“Unilateral US endorsement of Israeli sovereignty throughout Jerusalem, over all Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley guarantees Palestinian rejection and paves the way for full or partial Israeli annexation of the West Bank,” the document continued.In the letter, the senators argued that the proposal undermines “existing US policy regarding the unilateral annexation of Crimea, eastern Ukraine, northern Cyprus and elsewhere. It will also place allies like Jordan in an untenable position.”They also claimed that the plan, which is known as the “Deal of the Century,” “violates the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and will erode the long-term security interests of Israel by placing it on a course toward either a one-state solution that undermines the vision of a democratic Jewish state or a fragmented, disconnected and deeply unequal system of Palestinian islets surrounded by Israeli territory.”Trump revealed the details of the plan on Tuesday in a press conference alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The timing of the release was also criticized.“The timing of this proposal to coincide with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s indictment on bribery charges also raises disturbing questions about your intention to intervene in the Israeli election process. For this reason, leading Israeli politicians had called for a delay in the plan’s release until after the March 2 Israeli elections,” the letter further stated.The senators accused the Trump administration of reversing decades on bipartisan US policy regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and invited the president “to demonstrate a real commitment to a viable two-state solution and to lay the foundation for a future that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace, freedom, security, and prosperity.”“Previous presidents of both parties successfully maintained the respect of both Israelis and Palestinians for the United States’ role as a credible player in difficult negotiations. Your one-sided actions have made that impossible. It is clear that this latest White House effort is not a legitimate attempt to advance peace. It is a recipe for renewed division and conflict in the region,” they wrote.
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