U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the long-awaited peace plan for the Israelis and Palestinians will be released on Tuesday.
“So tomorrow at 12 o’clock, we’ll be announcing a plan,” said Trump while sitting alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inside the Oval Office. “And it’s a very big plan. It will be a suggestion between Israel and the Palestinians; it’s the closest it’s ever come, and we’ll see what happens.”
Trump continued, “We have the support of the prime minister, we have the support of the other parties, and we think we will ultimately have the support of the Palestinians, but we’re going to see.”
Before heading into the Oval Office, Trump and Netanyahu gave brief remarks. The former noted all the “waiting and waiting and waiting” to resolve the political impasse between Netanyahu and his political rival, former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Benny Gantz, who is currently meeting with Trump separate from Netanyahu ahead of the March 2 Israeli elections.
Netanyahu thanked Trump for “everything you’ve done for Israel” and for “confronting the most anti-Semitic regime on the planet,” referencing Iran.
Following the Netanyahu meeting, Trump also met with Gantz at the White House. In remarks after the meeting, Gantz called the plan a “significant and historic milestone” and vowed to implement it if he is elected prime minister.
Since withdrawing the United States in May 2018 from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Trump administration reimposed sanctions lifted under it, along with enacting new financial penalties against the regime. The United States has also taken military action, including eliminating earlier this month Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani—an action for which Netanyahu expressed appreciation, stating that the world is now a safer place without him.
Regarding the peace plan’s release, Netanyahu told Trump: “I look forward to making history with you tomorrow.”
The Palestinians have already rejected the so-called “deal of the century, out of hand. The Palestinian Authority has boycotted the Trump administration since its announced it recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.
