From the Liveblog of
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Abbas says Trump team offered Palestinian-Jordanian confederation
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GooglePalestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says the Trump administration’s Middle East team offered him a political plan for a Palestinian-Jordanian confederation.
Abbas says he expressed willingness to agree to a potential confederation only if Israel agreed to join.
He makes the remarks at a meeting with Knesset members and activists from the NGO Peace Now in Ramallah.
He says that when US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Jason Greenblatt and adviser Jared Kushner floated the idea of a confederation he expressed support for the proposal.
“I said: ‘Yes, I want a tripartite confederation with Jordan and Israel, and I asked whether the Israelis would agree to such a proposal.'”
Abbas goes on to say that he supports Israel’s security, and wants to solve the Palestinian refugee problem.
He claims that Netanyahu is refusing to sit down and begin peace talks. He says Netanyahu has turned down several meetings initiated by Russia, Japan, the Netherlands and Belgium.
“I have a problem with Netanyahu, not Likud,” he says.
Abbas says that he has met with Trump four times, and that the US president told him he supported the idea of a demilitarized Palestinian state that will be defended by NATO forces. He adds, however, that he is against the Trump administration’s peace plan.
He also slams the US decision to cut funding to UNRWA, saying the administration was “trying to sabotage” the Palestinian aid agency.
The Times of Israel Community.