President Trump’s Peace Plan To Demand ‘Tough’ Concessions From Israel

United States President Donald Trump reportedly will seek concessions from Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in an effort to jump-start peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. According to senior administration officials, the White House’s long-anticipated, nearly two-years-in-the-making proposal includes provisions that will pose political challenges to Israel’s leader given the make-up of his right-wing coalition. This comes as Israeli media claimed that President Trump in September told his French counterpart that he is “close to reaching the conclusion” that Netanyahu would prefer to maintain the status quo and therefore is readying to get “tough” with the premier. Last month, the American president for the first time appeared to endorse the two-state solution to the conflict, which is premised on the creation of a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank and the entire Gaza Strip—perhaps with the eastern part of Jerusalem as its capital—living side-by-side in peace with the Jewish state. President Trump has stressed on multiple occasions since recognizing in December the holy city as Israel’s capital that Netanyahu’s government will be expected to “pay a price” in any future negotiations. Thus far, Washington has directed its ire almost exclusively towards the Palestinian Authority, which responded by imposing a boycott on U.S. officials. President Trump has ordered the cut-off of hundreds of millions of dollars in direct aid to Ramallah and for humanitarian programs in the Palestinian territories; terminated funding to UNRWA, which tends to Palestinians refugees; and shuttered the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington. Responding to the report, a White House official told news outlets that President Trump “believes that Prime Minister [Netanyahu] is committed to pursuing a comprehensive and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.”