Rivlin says peace plan could bring hope

Speaking at the Bundestag in Berlin, President Reuven Rivlin says the US peace plan could help bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

“Yesterday in Washington, we saw moments that could bring great hope. After long years of diplomatic stalemate, President Trump — a courageous friend of the State of Israel — presented a plan that could allow the two peoples to renew the channels of dialogue and make progress towards a shared future,” he tells the German parliament in Hebrew, according to a statement from his office.

“It is no simple matter and both sides need to study the plan in depth. It is a plan that demands deep, difficult and complex concessions from both sides, but we must not give up. For those who surrender, surrender the chance. And I refuse to surrender.”

“It is true that the relations between Israel and the Palestinians are not symmetrical, but our capacity to find a political and diplomatic solution is dependent on the ability of both sides to trust one another. We must build confidence between us,” he adds.