The United States plans to release a new Israel-Palestine peace plan that has been called a “surrender act” by the Palestinian foreign minister.
With the 50th anniversary of Israel’s invasion of the West Bank and Gaza on June 5, the U.S. announced they have created a new plan to end the decades of conflict between Israel and Palestine. They will announce the plan after the end of Ramadan.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict dates back to the end of the 19th century and is primarily a conflict over territory. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the Holy Land was divided into three parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip. Since 1970, there has been international efforts to find terms for a state of peace.
“We want people to be able to have the freedom of opportunity, freedom of religion, the freedom to worship, regardless of your faith,” Senior Advisor Jared Kushner said, according to The Washington Post.
People who have spoken with Kushner and other White House officials told The Washington Post the peace accords will likely include autonomy for Palestine rather than sovereignty.
“We believe we have a plan that is fair, realistic and implementable that will enable people to live better lives,” a senior White House official told The Washington Post. “We looked at past efforts and solicited ideas from both sides and partners in the region with the recognition that what has been tried in the past has not worked. Thus, we have taken an unconventional approach founded on not hiding from reality, but instead speaking truth.”
The plan for peace has been discussed since December 2017. Foreign Affairs Minister of the Palestinian National Authority Riyad al-Maliki opposes the plan. At a UN meeting, Maliki said plan laid out “conditions of surrender” rather than peace terms.
“The U.S. ‘deal of the century’ is the consecration of our century-old ordeal: no independence, no sovereignty, no freedom, no justice,” al-Maliki told reporters, according to Al Jazeera. “And if they do not think that this situation will have an impact on the future of Israel and the region, one way or the other, they are the ones that are delusional, not us.”
Palestinian leadership has not been consulted for the planned U.S.–led Bahraid conference next month for Washington’s Middle East plan, in which the Palestinian-Israeli peace plan in meant to be released.
Palestinian leadership said that any Palestinian participation in this conference would be “nothing but a collaborator for the Americans and Israel.”