Trump to Netanyahu, Gantz: You have six weeks to implement peace plan
A US official said Trump wants to know both Netanyahu and Gantz are on board with the plan before announcing it.
By REUTERS, RACHEL WOLFA combination picture shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel November 17, 2019, and leader of Blue and White party Benny Gantz in Tel Aviv, Israel November 20, 2019(photo credit: REUTERS//NIR ELIAS/AMIR COHEN)
US President Donald Trump is expected to disclose details of his long-delayed Middle East peace proposal to Israeli leaders on Monday, as he attempts to generate some momentum towards resolving one of the world's most intractable problems.Trump will hold separate, back-to-back meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, the head of the centrist Blue and White Party, who is Netanyahu's rival in March 2 elections.On Tuesday, Trump will deliver joint remarks with Netanyahu at the White House, where the president may reveal details of his peace proposal.The White House hope was that if Trump could get the support of both Netanyahu and Gantz for the plan, it would help provide some momentum. A US official said Trump wants to know both Netanyahu and Gantz are on board with the plan before announcing it.The official told Reuters that Trump's message to Netanyahu and Gantz is this: “You have six weeks to get this [plan] going – if you want it.”Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman took to Facebook on Monday morning to comment on Trump's "Deal of the Century," which is expected to be released on Tuesday. He also made comments about both Netanyahu's and Gantz's goals in meeting with the president."Without reading the plan that President Trump will present today, I have no doubt that it will have a true understanding of Israel's interests in a future settlement with the Palestinians," Liberman wrote on Facebook. "For Netanyahu, it is clear that this is part of a survival plan and nothing else."Liberman then went on to criticize Gantz, referring to him as "Mr. Yes and No," and saying that he "has not yet decided" how he feels about the deal."Just as he did not decide whether or not to favor Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley, or how to form a secular government with [Arye] Deri, [Yaakov] Litzman and [Moshe] Gafni – unless Blue and White formulated a secret plan to restore the ultra-Orthodox parties in question by March 2," Liberman wrote.Liberman also criticized Gantz's wavering on forming a government with Arab parties, calling them "terror supporters," adding: "But that didn't stop him from flying to Washington for a photo-op with President Trump."He concluded by saying that Netanyahu and Gantz should focus on domestic issues, rather than flying to the US to "deal with spin and public relations." He mentioned the Iran's nuclear advancement, the deficit, health care and the recent resurgence of incendiary balloon attacks from Gaza.The two days of foreign policy meetings will provide Trump with a contrast from the trial in the Republican-led Senate that is weighing articles of impeachment against him approved by the Democratic-led House of Representatives.But whether it truly will jumpstart the long-stalled effort to bring Israelis and Palestinians together is far from certain.Palestinians have refused to engage the Trump administration on the effort and roundly denounced a $50-billion economic revival plan it set forth last July to lift the Palestinian and neighboring Arab state economies.Palestinians fear the plan will dash their hopes for an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
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