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Abbas, Former Israeli PM to Hold Anti-Trump Presser

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert will be adding his voice to a growing chorus of detractors opposed to US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan. According to Israeli media, Olmert will hold a joint press conference next week at the United Nations in New York with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, during which they will publicly denounce the US administration’s proposal. Prior to that, Abbas is slated to address the Security Council, which is expected to vote on a draft resolution condemning the terms of the initiative. While the motion will assuredly be vetoed by the US, many countries on the 15-member council are expected to support the move. These reportedly include Russia, China and France, while other members, including Britain and Germany, remain on the fence. In 2008, Olmert offered Abbas a peace deal that would have established a Palestinian state in virtually the entire West Bank, with the eastern part of Jerusalem as its capital. Abbas failed to respond to the proposal before Olmert resigned over legal problems that eventually landed him in prison.