Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that there is “no urgency” in the Trump administration putting forward their plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Speaking to reporters in Lithuania, the Israeli leader said U.S. President Donald Trump is “not blind,” adding “it is his thing if he wants to try and promote it.”
“From time to time, he says something about this and [the peace plan] might come,” continued Netanyahu. “The Americans are thinking about it ... when they propose it we will see.”
Earlier this week, Trump said Israel will pay a “higher price” regarding peace talks after his historic decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May.
“If there’s ever going to be peace with the Palestinians, then this was a good thing to have done,” Trump said at a rally in West Virginia. “We took it off the table. In past negotiations, they never got past Jerusalem. Now Israel will have to pay a higher price, because it’s off the table. The Palestinians will get something very good, cause it’s their turn next.”
Trump’s statement was later downplayed by White House officials.
“The president’s words that Israel would pay ‘a higher price’ simply reflects a desire that our good faith initiatives would be reciprocated,” they told Israel’s Channel 10 News. “And, just to be absolutely clear, the U.S. will not impose terms upon Israel that are unacceptable.”
