Trump to reveal ‘Deal of the Century’ before Netanyahu visit

FPI / January 24, 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump said he will announce his Middle East peace plan, dubbed the “Deal of the Century,” at a White House meeting next week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz.

"It's a great plan. It's a plan that really would work," Trump said on Thursday. “I’d love to be able to do that deal. They say that’s the hardest of all deals."

Trump added that officials in his administration had briefly spoken to senior Palestinian Authority (PA) officials and will be speaking to them again soon.

"They may react negatively at first, but it is actually positive for them and they have a lot of incentive to do it," Trump told reporters.

Earlier on Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence said that Netanyahu and Gantz have both accepted Trump’s invitation to the White House next week to discuss the peace plan.

Pence added that he invited Gantz at Netanyahu's suggestion.

Netanyahu said: "I suggested that Benny Gantz be invited to this event as well, because I think that it's important that we do not lose this historic opportunity. With such friends in the White House, with such backing from the United States, we should get as broad a consensus as possible around the efforts to achieve security and peace, peace and security for the State of Israel.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 12 News published details of what reporter Amit Segal said was the Trump administration's peace plan.

According to Segal, the plan would allow Israel to apply sovereignty to all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria immediately.

In addition, all but 15 Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria would be included in a territorially continuous bloc which would come under Israeli sovereignty. The remaining 15 Israeli towns would also be placed under Israeli sovereignty, but as smaller enclaves outside of the larger bloc. In total, Israel would apply sovereignty to about 30% of all the land in Judea and Samaria.

Jerusalem would remain entirely under Israeli sovereignty. Israel would be required to recognize a Palestinian Arab state on the remaining 70 percent of Judea and Samaria.

Trump dismissed the report, saying that "reports about details and timing of our closely-held peace plan are purely speculative."

Free Press International