After Trump meet, Israeli right says Abbas doesn’t truly want peace

Following Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, a number of right-wing Israeli lawmakers accused the PA leader of having no genuine interest in peace.

In a statement, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) condemned Abbas’s assertion that the Palestinians “are the only remaining people in the world that are living under occupation,” which she called “absurd.”

“I reject out of hand the absurd statements of Abu Mazen on ending the occupation because the Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land,” Hotovely said, using Abbas’s nom de guerre. “We have a 3,000 year connection to our land and we will continue to settle and live on it.

“Abu Mazen arrives in Washington while continuing to give money to the families of terrorists. It is clear to any intelligent person that Abu Mazen is not interested in peace. Palestinian textbooks and payments for terrorists show that,” she added.

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) said Israel’s response to the PA’s support for “murderers and terrorists” should be increased settlement construction in the West Bank.

“While Abbas describes [himself] as recognizing Israel and asking for a renewal of negotiations, the PA which he heads funds murderers and terrorists and refuses to recognize the State of Israel as the Jewish state,” Ariel said.

“This must stop immediately, and simultaneously [we must] increase the pace of building and settling Judea and Samaria.”

In contrast to the reactions of Hotovely and Ariel, a number of left-leaning lawmakers urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take advantage of Trump’s peace push.

In an interview with CNN, Zionist Union MK and former peace negotiator Tzipi Livni said she believed Trump had an opportunity to advance the peace process by not forcing terms on either side.

“Without forcing [but by] using his influence on both sides, and with the support of the Arab world, this can be a great opportunity for the region, and Israel should take the steps that are needed to do so.”

Livni also said that a majority of Knesset makers were in favor of a peace deal, appearing to echo her fellow party member Amir Peretz’s statement from earlier in the day that the Zionist Union would back government peace efforts.

“I believe that there is a great opportunity here,” @Tzipi_Livni says. https://t.co/t6Zlg0ThzJ

— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) May 3, 2017

Fellow Zionist Union MK Omer Barlev also called for a resumption of peace talks, saying that Trump’s support for renewed negotiations shows that “Netanyahu has no more excuses.”

“I suggest that [Netanyahu] move forward with Abu Mazen and declare that the official State of Israel is prepared to meet with [Abbas] without delay under President Trump’s supervision,” he wrote on Facebook.

Among American responses, the left-wing Jewish group J Street said it was “encouraged by US President Donald Trump’s determination… to launch a serious attempt to negotiate an end to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.”

In its statement, J Street said it still was awaiting “critical details about how he sees such a peace being achieved,” while also reiterating its support for a two-state solution and calling on Trump to “commit himself to this principle without further delay if he is serious about pursuing peace.”

AJC praised Trump for his efforts to press Abbas to return to direct, bilateral negotiations with Israel. “We welcome President Trump’s efforts to help solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in February and today’s with President Abbas,” said AJC CEO David Harris. “Any follow-up should make clear that the U.S. endorses a negotiated – and enduring – two-state solution that, as President Trump said, will not be imposed by third parties.”

At Wednesday’s White House meeting, Trump expressed great optimism that he could help Israelis and Palestinians resolve their decades long conflict, saying he would be willing to play whatever role was needed to strike the coveted but elusive accord.

“We will get it done. We will be working so hard to get it done. It’s been a long time, but we will be working diligently, and I think there’s a very, very good chance,” he said.

Abbas used his remarks to tick off Palestinian priorities for reaching a deal.

“Our strategic option is to bring about peace based on the vision of the two-state [solution], a Palestinian state with its capital of East Jerusalem that lives in peace and stability with the state of Israel, based on the borders of 1967,” Abbas said.

Abbas also castigated Israel’s ongoing presence in areas beyond the pre-1967 lines. “It’s about time for Israel to end its occupation of our people and of our land after 50 years,” the Palestinian leader said. “We are the only remaining people in the world that still live under occupation. We are aspiring and want to achieve our freedom, our dignity, and our right to self-determination. And we also want for Israel to recognize the Palestinian state just as the Palestinian people recognize the state of Israel.”

In his remarks, Trump did not voice specific support for a two-state solution, but rather spoke more generally about his goal of reaching a deal. During his meeting with Netanyahu in February, Trump backed away from long-standing US policy insisting on that framework, saying “I’m looking at one state and two state, and I like the one that both parties like.”

Trump on Wednesday also addressed the issue of Palestinian terror and incitement, something he frequently castigated on the campaign trail as an obstacle to a deal.

“There can be no lasting peace unless the Palestinian leaders speak in a unified voice against incitement to violate and violence and hate,” he said during his appearance with Abbas. “There is such hatred. But hopefully there won’t be such hatred for very long.”