The United States may be delaying the presentation of an upcoming peace proposal for Israelis and Palestinian due to strong Palestinian opposition.
A senior Palestinian official told London’s Al Hayat newspaper on Thursday that the United States has decided to delay the announcement of the proposal indefinitely, due to American realizations that upfront rejection by the Palestinian Authority may prevent additional Arab countries from backing the proposal.
The official said the U.S. administration had hoped to circumvent the P.A. by appealing to other Arab countries who might force the issue.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has openly declared that he will not take part in any negotiations with Israel brokered by the United States, and has made scathing comments about U.S. administration officials, cursing Trump on Jan. 14 by saying “May God demolish your house,” and then on March 19 calling U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman a “son of a dog” and a “settler.” Abbas’s open hostility towards the current American administration began when Trump officially declared America’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel capital’s on Dec. 6.
However, Abbas is reported to be in poor health, and the Trump administration may be delaying the unveiling of its plan until he is out of office.
On Thursday, spokesperson for Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction Osama Qawassmeh said any future Palestinian leader taking part in the plan would be accepting a “deal of shame.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has said that reaching a final-status peace arrangement between Israelis and Palestinians would be the “deal of the century.”
