Abbas to Meet Sisi, Arab FMs in Cairo in Bid to Torpedo US Peace Plan

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is traveling to Cairo Sunday to hold consultations with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The consultations are geared toward shoring up Arab support ahead of the prospective release of the much-anticipated US peace plan that Ramallah has repeatedly rejected out of hand. Abbas will also attend a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers, whom he reportedly will ask to oppose US President Donald Trump’s so-called “deal of the century” and help the PA alleviate its financial crisis. The PA leader is expected to brief the diplomats on counter-measures his government might take in an effort to torpedo the American peace push. They include revoking recognition of Israel’s right to exist, a move recommended by the legislative branch of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which dominates the PA and considers itself the lone official voice of the Palestinian people. Abbas’s trip comes against the backdrop of last week’s assertion by lead American negotiator Jason Greenblatt that the term “two-state solution” was no longer necessary, and even counter-productive, given that both sides construe its meaning differently. This has raised further speculation that the peace plan will not call for the immediate establishment of an independent Palestinian state. France’s outgoing ambassador to Washington last week contended in The Atlantic that the peace plan dovetailed with most of Israel’s positions and was thus doomed to failure.