Aug 28, 2019

Trump won't release peace plan before Israel's election

Trump and Kushner at the G7. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images

President Trump has decided not to publish his Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, or parts of it, before Israel's Sept. 17 elections, White House special envoy Jason Greenblatt said in a tweet.

Why it matters: Trump has spoken twice about this issue in the last 2 weeks, and he had raised the possibility the plan would be at least partially released before the elections. That could have had a big influence on the outcome of the elections and on the formation of the next governing coalition. The president and his Middle East “peace team," headed by Jared Kushner, had several discussions on this issue before deciding to wait, a White House official tells me.

The latest: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told a campaign rally today he thinks the plan will be presented very soon after the elections, and claimed he will be in a much stronger position to negotiate with Trump than his leading political opponents.

“We heard tonight that President Trump’s deal of the century will be presented to the world only after the elections. I have a good reason to believe that it will be presented very soon after the elections. Who do you want to run the negotiations with President Trump on the deal of the century? Myself as the head of a right-wing government or [Benny] Gantz and [Yair] Lapid? Do you think Trump or [Vladimir] Putin will be impressed by Lapid or Gantz? This is the question of those elections because this diplomatic issue is going to be in front of us within weeks. Who is going to lead Israel in this critical moment? These two who can barley run their own party?”
— Netnyahu

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