Abbas adviser says ‘price’ Trump wants Israel to pay better include recognizing Palestine

The only “compensation” the US could provide to the Palestinians for its Jerusalem moves would be recognizing the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital and designating the two-state solution as the “sole solution,” says Madji al-Khaldi, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s senior diplomatic adviser.

Khaldi made the remarks in response to statements US President Donald Trump made at a rally in West Virginia on Tuesday.

At the rally, Trump said that he took the issue of “Jerusalem becoming the capital of Israel” off the table, referring to his December declaration that the US recognizes Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital and would move the American embassy to the city. However, he also said that Israel would have “to pay a higher price” in negotiations because of those moves and added that “the Palestinians will get something very good, because it’s their turn next.”

He did not define what he said was the “price” Israel would have to pay.

“The American administration made a major mistake when it recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved its embassy there,” Khaldi tells The Times of Israel. “There is no compensation the administration could offer for those moves other than recognizing the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital and clearly defining the two-state solution as the sole solution.”

— Adam Rasgon