Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday amid tensions between the two countries over the Temple Mount, in a surprise visit that was publicized only after its conclusion.

“The two leaders discussed regional issues, especially strategic, security and economic cooperation between Israel and Jordan, which contributes to regional stability,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

“They also praised the long-standing friendship and partnership between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom,” the PMO continued.

It’s the first visit Netanyahu has made abroad since he returned to office last month.

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Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-729456

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Jordan and the Palestinian Authority are expected to demand from the US that control over Jewish visits to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem be restored to the Muslim authority that administers the site, Palestinian sources say.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II were to raise the issue with Secretary of State John Kerry, who is in the region this weekend, the sources said.

Amman and the PA are seeking to return the running of the Temple Mount — the holiest site in Judaism and third-holiest in Islam — to how it was before the start of the intifada in September 2000, and before the visit of then-opposition Likud leader Ariel Sharon, when the Waqf was responsible for Jewish visitors’ access to the site.

The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, controlled by Jordan, administers the Islamic sites at the compound, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Sharon’s visit is often said to have been the pretext for the Second Intifada, which broke out just a few weeks later and which saw hundreds of Palestinian suicide bombings that claimed the lives of over a thousand Israelis during a span of five years.

Until 2000, the entry of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount was coordinated with the Waqf. The site was closed to Jews from 2000 until 2003, as the Second Intifada raged. Since then Israel Police have overseen visits by Jewish visitors. Under Israel’s regulations, imposed after the Old City was captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray on, the Temple Mount.

The demand for Muslim oversight on Jewish access to the Temple Mount was first made by the Palestinian Authority on Thursday. “Israel must restore control of the Temple Mount to the Waqf,” said one official close to Abbas. “This is one of the only measures that can help calm the current situation.”

Palestinian sources also told The Times of Israel that Abbas will tell Kerry during their meeting in Amman on Saturday that he is interested in renewing peace talks with Israel and abiding by previous agreements, but that Jerusalem must first freeze all settlement activity and release the final 26 prisoners it had agreed to free last year as part of a US-brokered concession to Abbas.

Israel had agreed to release a total of 104 security prisoners jailed before the 1993 Oslo Accords in four phases. It went through with three of the four releases, setting free some of the worst orchestrators of terrorism, before talks collapsed in April 2014.

Senior Palestinian officials also told The Times of Israel that Israel had tried to create friction between Jordan and the Palestinian Authority by conveying messages to King Abdullah II warning him that Abbas’s inciting statements endangered Jordanian interests on the Temple Mount.

Abbas is expected to demand deeper American involvement in any renewed political process with Israel, and warn that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues with his current policies, he is dooming the region to more violence and bloodshed.

When asked if they understood that meeting their demands would spell the end of the Netanyahu-led government, the sources said the Israeli prime minister must choose between his government and a willingness to make peace.

The PA’s demands for Waqf control of the Temple Mount come amid a wave of Palestinian terror and violence which has seen 10 Israelis killed in the past month and a half. More than 40 Palestinians have also been killed — about half of them while carrying out attacks, and most of the rest in clashes with Israeli security officials in the West Bank and on the Gaza border.

Israel has accused Abbas and the PA of partial responsibility for the terror surge, with Netanyahu repeatedly castigating Abbas for telling “lies” about purported Israeli plans to change the status quo at the Temple Mount and for inciting violence over the issue. Netanyahu, who has denied any such plans and offered to meet Abbas without preconditions, has also vowed to make no concessions to the Palestinians in response to the current surge in terrorism.

The PA officials said that their security forces have prevented a series of recent attacks on Israeli targets, including stabbings, shootings and the planting of explosives. PA security forces have also been active during Palestinian demonstrations to prevent the use of live fire against IDF soldiers, and intervened when a gunman opened fire on soldiers during a recent protest near the Beit El settlement, they said.

Israeli security officials have acknowledged the value of the ongoing PA security coordination.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s Office denied that Israel has offered to reduce the number of Jewish and non-Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount in an effort to calm tensions at the site and help end the wave of terror attacks. Arab diplomatic officials had told The Times of Israel that this offer was rejected by Palestinian and Jordanian leaders as not going far enough to meet their demands.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/pa-jordan-want-muslim-control-over-jewish-visits-to-temple-mount/

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently went on a brief six-hour trip to Israel. As Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu correctly noted to Secretary Pompeo during their joint press conference on May 13, “This is your first trip abroad in some time. I think it is a testament to the strength of our alliance, to the strength of President [Donald] Trump’s commitment to the State of Israel, and to the strength of your commitment to Israel, and the strength of our alliance.”  The trip, in our view, reflects the determination of the United States and Israel to take advantage of the rare opportunities present in order to create a dramatically different strategic environment in the near future.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the agenda of the international community and has forced many states to focus their energy and resources on efforts to minimize the scope of the damage the coronavirus outbreak has caused. It is no secret that many states are now competing in efforts to develop as soon as possible a vaccine for this new disease. Notably, this pandemic has also given certain advantages to states with high technological and scientific abilities, such as Israel and the United States.

In February 2020, Netanyahu ordered the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) (which is under the authority of the prime minister) “to act as quickly as possible to produce a vaccine against the virus and establish a vaccine plant in Israel.” Earlier, in May, it was announced that IIBR successfully isolated the coronavirus antibody. On May 18, IIBR announced that the vaccine they had developed was successful during testing on rats, with the next stage being tests on other animals before finally starting human trials. Just prior to this announcement, it was revealed that IIBR has filed patent requests for eight types of coronavirus antibodies that it has isolated.

Being aware of Israel’s advanced position in the fight against the coronavirus, it is certain that the United States considers cooperation with Israel in this field to be in its best interests. Pompeo alluded to this in his remarks alongside Netanyahu, stating: “We’ll certainly talk about the challenges the globe faces with COVID—Israeli technologies, Israeli medical expertise, all of the things that you and I and our teams can work on together. I know we’ll deliver good outcomes and decrease the risk for people all across the world from this global pandemic.”

Furthermore, Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) announced their intention to press for a $12 million appropriation in the upcoming Phase 4 / CARES 2 bill to enhance partnerships between companies in the United States and Israel to develop innovative medical projects aimed at detecting, treating, and curing the coronavirus. The language of this push is modeled on the bipartisan. “Expanding Medical Partnerships with Israel to Lessen Dependence on China Act,”  which was introduced by Cruz, Coons, and six other senators, Republicans, and Democrats.

Developing a cure or a vaccine for this pandemic will significantly boost the prestige and revenue of both the United States and Israel. It will also enhance Trump’s position towards the coming election, certainly under the background of harsh criticism against him for his handling of the pandemic. Notably, former President Barack Obama characterized the Trump administration’s response as “an absolute chaotic disaster.”

As far as Israel is concerned, successfully developing a vaccine would enhance ties between Israel and the Arab states (particularly the Gulf States). It could even encourage them to raise existing, yet clandestine, relations to more open, public, and normal relations. It might also encourage Arab states to intensify their pressures on the Palestinians to show more flexibility in the peace process.

In general, the coming months between now and November present the Israeli leadership with rare and unprecedented opportunities to significantly enhance Israel’s strategic standing. Israel can hope to realize those opportunities due to the very wide freedom of action it currently enjoys:

a. The current American administration supports Israel almost in any field, in particular with regard to Iran and the peace process.

b. The existence of a national unity government in Israel enables its leadership to undertake major, far-reaching decisions in both military and political spheres, which it could not do when it was just a right-wing government.

c. The European Union (EU), which for years has been a major factor limiting Israel’s freedom of action, currently finds itself in a weaker position as it is reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and the related economic fallout. There are additionally a growing number of EU states which are taking positions that are more favorable towards Israel. This was recently marked by the unprecedented resolution adopted by the EU parliament condemning hate speech in Palestinian textbooks.

d. The Arab world, including the Palestinian entity, is divided perhaps now more than ever, as it is engulfed in seemingly endless internal violent conflicts, and its revenues from oil are sharply decreasing.

Israel is certainly aware that these favorable circumstances will not be indefinite and are not without vulnerability. In November 2020, Trump will be facing a major challenge in the coming election. Though Trump’s approval rating has remained relatively stable, nobody can guarantee his victory over the highly experienced former Vice President Joe Biden. Though known as being highly sympathetic towards Israel, Biden will be very much influenced by the growing anti-Israeli posture of certain strong elements within the Democratic Party. If this happens, then Israel’s freedom of action will dramatically decrease.

In addition, nobody knows for how long the national unity government in Israel will survive. Netanyahu’s trial for corruption begins next week while major internal economic and social issues divide the parties that compose the present unity government. These controversies might bring a sudden downfall of the present government.

Regarding Iran, it is important to note that the regime in Tehran is under significant stress due to sanctions, an economic crisis, and the coronavirus pandemic. This has led to what appears to be a major strategic success for Israel. According to outgoing Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennet, “Iran is significantly reducing the scope of its forces in Syria and even evacuating a number of bases.” Bennet added, “Though Iran has begun the withdrawal process from Syria, we need to complete the work. It’s in reach.” The fact that Israel has managed to force an Iranian withdrawal from Syria while having avoided any direct confrontation with Syria, Russia, or Iran, is a major breakthrough and a successful result of the policy Netanyahu has been carrying out over the past years with the support of the United States.

Over the past several years, Israel has carried out extensive airstrikes on Iranian targets and weapons shipments in Syria as Iran has sought to entrench itself on Israel’s northern border. Recently, Israel seems determined to signal to Iran that it will no longer confine its attacks to Iranian targets in Syria. Rather, Israel will hit Iran on its own soil when necessary. Indeed, it was recently revealed that a major Israeli cyberattack targeting the Shahid Rajaee port terminal in Iran’s largest port city of Bandar Abbas caused complete disarray, managing to bring the bustling port to a standstill.

Riding on its major success in compelling Iran to withdraw from Syria, Israel feels that in the coming months, it has a distinctive window of opportunity to dramatically enhance the pressure on Iran in order to force it into accepting the conditions of Israel and the United States with regard to the Iranian nuclear program. This has certainly been discussed between Pompeo and Netanyahu.

The other subject that is certainly of high priority on Israel’s agenda is the prospect of a preemptive strike against Hizballah’s rocket and missile caches in Lebanon. It is estimated that there are approximately 130,000 rockets and missiles in Lebanon capable of hitting almost any point in Israel. Since the 2006 Lebanon War, Hezbollah has refrained from using this strategic threat against Israel. However, Israel cannot rule out the possibility that local clashes between Israel and Hezbollah could develop even unintentionally into a major conflict in which Hizballah will utilize these capabilities.

Lastly, the present circumstances give Israel a unique and unprecedented opportunity to formulate its permanent borders. Following the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Israel is now given an illuminating green light to annex major parts of the West Bank, in particular the Jordan Valley, into its territory. The threats of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to end security cooperation with Israel and warnings against annexation by Jordan’s King Abdullah II for the time being do not appear to be of much deterrence against Israel’s current leadership in this regard. The solid support of the United States and the apparent weakness of the EU and the Arab world more or less ensures that no effective factor will pose a significant challenge to such an Israeli move.

All in all, Israel is currently enjoying a period of unprecedented strategic freedom of action. An Israeli unity government, a weak Europe, and very strong ties with the United States means that Israel has options open to it now that it may not have again in the foreseeable future, but time is running short.

The Arab world, including the Palestinian entity, is divided perhaps now more than ever, as it is engulfed in seemingly endless internal violent conflicts, and its revenues from oil are sharply decreasing.

Israel is certainly aware that these favorable circumstances will not be indefinite and are not without vulnerability. In November 2020, Trump will be facing a major challenge in the coming election. Though Trump’s approval rating has remained relatively stable, nobody can guarantee his victory over the highly experienced former Vice President Joe Biden. Though known as being highly sympathetic towards Israel, Biden will be very much influenced by the growing anti-Israeli posture of certain strong elements within the Democratic Party. If this happens, then Israel’s freedom of action will dramatically decrease.

In addition, nobody knows for how long the national unity government in Israel will survive. Netanyahu’s trial for corruption begins next week while major internal economic and social issues divide the parties that compose the present unity government. These controversies might bring a sudden downfall of the present government.

Regarding Iran, it is important to note that the regime in Tehran is under significant stress due to sanctions, an economic crisis, and the coronavirus pandemic. This has led to what appears to be a major strategic success for Israel. According to outgoing Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennet, “Iran is significantly reducing the scope of its forces in Syria and even evacuating a number of bases.” Bennet added, “Though Iran has begun the withdrawal process from Syria, we need to complete the work. It’s in reach.” The fact that Israel has managed to force an Iranian withdrawal from Syria while having avoided any direct confrontation with Syria, Russia, or Iran, is a major breakthrough and a successful result of the policy Netanyahu has been carrying out over the past years with the support of the United States.

Over the past several years, Israel has carried out extensive airstrikes on Iranian targets and weapons shipments in Syria as Iran has sought to entrench itself on Israel’s northern border. Recently, Israel seems determined to signal to Iran that it will no longer confine its attacks to Iranian targets in Syria. Rather, Israel will hit Iran on its own soil when necessary. Indeed, it was recently revealed that a major Israeli cyberattack targeting the Shahid Rajaee port terminal in Iran’s largest port city of Bandar Abbas caused complete disarray, managing to bring the bustling port to a standstill.

Riding on its major success in compelling Iran to withdraw from Syria, Israel feels that in the coming months, it has a distinctive window of opportunity to dramatically enhance the pressure on Iran in order to force it into accepting the conditions of Israel and the United States with regard to the Iranian nuclear program. This has certainly been discussed between Pompeo and Netanyahu.

The other subject that is certainly of high priority on Israel’s agenda is the prospect of a preemptive strike against Hizballah’s rocket and missile caches in Lebanon. It is estimated that there are approximately 130,000 rockets and missiles in Lebanon capable of hitting almost any point in Israel. Since the 2006 Lebanon War, Hezbollah has refrained from using this strategic threat against Israel. However, Israel cannot rule out the possibility that local clashes between Israel and Hezbollah could develop even unintentionally into a major conflict in which Hizballah will utilize these capabilities.

Lastly, the present circumstances give Israel a unique and unprecedented opportunity to formulate its permanent borders. Following the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Israel is now given an illuminating green light to annex major parts of the West Bank, in particular the Jordan Valley, into its territory. The threats of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to end security cooperation with Israel and warnings against annexation by Jordan’s King Abdullah II for the time being do not appear to be of much deterrence against Israel’s current leadership in this regard. The solid support of the United States and the apparent weakness of the EU and the Arab world more or less ensures that no effective factor will pose a significant challenge to such an Israeli move.

All in all, Israel is currently enjoying a period of unprecedented strategic freedom of action. An Israeli unity government, a weak Europe, and very strong ties with the United States means that Israel has options open to it now that it may not have again in the foreseeable future, but time is running short.

Professor Zaki Shalom is a member of the research staff at Ashkelon Academic College and the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, Israel. He has published extensively on various facets of Israel’s defense policy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the role of the superpowers in the Middle East, and Israel’s struggle against Islamic terror. His work has also focused on the study of Israel’s nuclear option, both in historical and contemporary perspectives.

Jacob Aaron Collier is a research intern at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, Israel, and an MA candidate in security and diplomacy studies at Tel Aviv University. He holds a BA in political science and global security studies from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Source: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/will-israel-capitalize-opportunities-create-new-strategic-environment-161271

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Why it matters: This is the harshest statement by the King regarding the possible annexation of parts of the West Bank by Israel. It comes days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Israel for talks with Israeli leaders and ahead of the swearing-in of the new Israeli government on Sunday.

What he’s saying: When asked if Jordan would suspend its peace treaty with Israel if the annexation takes place, King Abdullah said: “I don’t want to make threats and create an atmosphere of loggerheads, but we are considering all options.”

• The King stressed that all parties in the region should focus now on fighting the coronavirus together rather than dealing with unilateral annexation of the West Bank.
• “Leaders who advocate a one-state solution do not understand what that would mean. What would happen if the Palestinian National Authority collapsed? There would be more chaos and extremism in the region,” he said.

The backstory: The coalition deal that allowed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new government says he can bring “the understandings with the Trump administration” on annexation up for a vote in the cabinet or parliament as early as July 1 — but only with the full agreement of the White House.

• The Trump administration does not view the new Israeli government’s July 1 deadline to begin the process of annexing parts of the West Bank as a “do or die” date, a senior U.S. official told me.

What’s next: Jordan has been lobbying the U.S. and EU member states for the last several weeks to discourage the new Israeli government from moving forward on the annexation of the West Bank. The foreign ministers of the 27 member states of the EU met today via video conference to discuss the issue.

• Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi made several phone calls in the last few days to his counterparts from France, Spain, and other countries in the EU and asked them to take steps to deter the new Israeli government from annexing parts of the West Bank.
  

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  Source: https://www.axios.com/jordanian-king-massive-conflict-israel-west-bank-bf82f6f2-f554-4afc-a467-435d4b1205ca.html

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A state TV journalist who also is a medical doctor gave the warning only hours after hard-line Shiite faithful on Monday night pushed their way into the courtyards of two major shrines that were finally closed due to the virus. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a religious ruling prohibiting “unnecessary” travel.

Roughly 9 out of 10 of the over 18,000 confirmed cases of the virus in the Middle East come from Iran, where authorities denied for days the risk the outbreak posed. Officials have implemented new checks for people trying to leave major cities ahead of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on Friday, but have hesitated to quarantine the areas.

The death toll in Iran saw another 13% increase Tuesday. Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the virus had killed 135 more people to raise the total to 988 amid over 16,000 cases.

Jordan announced a state of emergency, banning gatherings of more than 10 people, and Israel issued its own strict guidelines.

Most infected people experience only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and recover within weeks. But the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by people with no visible symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

In announcing the new warning, the Iranian state TV journalist, Dr. Afruz Eslami, cited a study by Tehran’s prestigious Sharif University of Technology, which offered three scenarios: If people cooperate fully now, Iran will see 120,000 infections and 12,000 deaths before the outbreak is over; if they offer medium cooperation, there will be 300,000 cases and 110,000 deaths.

But if people fail to follow any guidance, it could collapse Iran’s already-strained medical system, Eslami said. If the “medical facilities are not sufficient, there will be 4 million cases, and 3.5 million people will die,” she said.

Eslami did not elaborate on what metrics the study used, but even reporting it on Iran’s tightly controlled state media represented a major change for a country whose officials had for days denied the severity of the crisis.

Underlining that urgency was the fatwa issued by Khamenei, which prohibited “unnecessary” travel. It comes as the public ignored repeated warnings and pleas from security forces. Such a decree is rare by Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters.

Some Iranian media later said Khamenei hadn’t issued a fatwa, though semiofficial news agencies believed to be close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said the order had been made.

Late Monday night, angry crowds stormed the courtyards of the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad and the Fatima Masumeh shrine in Qom. Many people visit the shrine in Qom 24 hours a day, seven days a week, touching and kissing the shrine.That has worried health officials, who for weeks wanted Iran’s Shiite clergy to close them.

State TV had announced the closures earlier in the day, sparking the demonstrations.

“We are here to say that Tehran is damn wrong to do that!” one Shiite cleric shouted at the shrine in Mashhad, according to online video. Others joined him in chanting: “The health minister is damn wrong to do that, the president is damn wrong to do that!”

Police later dispersed the crowds and made arrests. Religious authorities and a prominent Qom seminary called the demonstration an “insult” to the shrine.

Iran’s shrines draw Shiite pilgrims from all over, likely contributing to the virus’ regional spread. Saudi Arabia has closed off Islam’s holiest sites and on Tuesday said it would halt communal Friday prayers in the kingdom.

President Hassan Rouhani said that despite the closures, “our soul is closer to the saints more than at any time.”

State TV reported teams were deployed to screen travelers leaving major cities in 13 provinces, including the capital, Tehran. But Iran has 31 provinces and authorities haven’t tried to lock down the country the way its allies Iraq and Lebanon have done.

The teams check travelers and send those with fevers to quarantine centers. Iran has been urging people to stay home, but many ignore the call.

In apparent efforts to try to curb the spread, Iran has released 85,000 prisoners on temporary leave, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said. That number included half of all “security-related” prisoners, he said without elaborating. Western nations have urged Iran to release dual nationals and others, alleging they are used as bargaining chips in negotiations.

Among those released is Mohammad Hossein Karroubi, the son of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, who was in jail for nearly two months.

Also temporarily freed was Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British dual national long-held on internationally criticized charges. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the charitable Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in 2016 on charges of trying to topple the government while traveling with her toddler daughter.

In Jordan, King Abdullah II by royal decree declared a national emergency over the virus outbreak, which allows the suspension of laws and grants greater powers to the state to restrict public gatherings and make arrests.

Troops were deployed outside of Jordan’s major cities to block travel, newspapers were ordered to stop publishing, gatherings of more than 10 people were banned and a quarantine zone was established at Dead Sea hotels. It also halted all private sector work and public transportation as well.

Egypt, which has 196 confirmed cases of the virus and six deaths, announced the immediate shutdown of all movie theaters across the Arab world’s most populous country.

It also locked down the Red Sea province that includes the resort town of Hurghada. Authorities barred workers in all tourist sites, hotels, bazaars, and restaurants from leaving the province and imposed a 14-day quarantine, according to a document from the governor’s office obtained by The Associated Press.

In Oman, the sultanate announced anyone coming from abroad would be subject to quarantine.

Israel’s Defense Ministry plans to use near-empty hotels, as recovery centers for patients with COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Israel also urged citizens to stay home, closing parks, museums, libraries, beaches, and other public areas.

In Syria, all sports clubs, movie theaters, concerts, theaters, as well as halls used for weddings or funerals were ordered closed in Damascus, and all restaurants and other shops around the country were ordered shut. Syria says it has no cases of the virus.

Pakistan’s number of coronavirus cases rose to 237, although no deaths have been reported. Government critics blame improper border screenings for thousands of pilgrims returning from Iran this month.

Prime Minister Imran Khan warned that the disease will spread but said the public “should not fret as most of the people easily recover.”

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Mehdi Fattahi in Tehran, Iran, Aron Heller in Jerusalem, Omar Akour in Amman, Jordan, Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed.

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The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Source: https://apnews.com/6e92d93551ee6c6ae51d0acaaad9eb32

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Al-Buwayda is a quiet, dusty town on the road from Irbid in northern Jordan to Mafraq. It was here that the wave of Syrian refugees who fled fighting crested in 2015. The population of the area doubled from 95,000 to 200,000. Today, many of the 1 million Syrians who came to Jordan are setting down roots and raising families. Amman now must face the challenge of integrating them while it awaits the U.S. peace plan expected to be rolled out in June, after Ramadan.

Washington must tread carefully in the next few months, and recognize that the aftermath of the Syrian conflict and war against ISIS are deeply linked, through Jordan, to a peace push in Jerusalem. If the Trump administration wants to bolster its allies, including Israel and Jordan, it should remember that Amman is key to stability and security.

Jordan is at the center of the three pivotal flashpoints in the Middle East. As host of Syrian refugees, it plays a crucial role in preventing instability in Syria and Iraq from spreading; it helped to broker a ceasefire in southern Syria that lasted until summer 2018. Jordan is a link for U.S. forces in Tanf, in southern Syria, and was supportive of U.S. and western efforts to support the Syrian rebels until Washington ended that support in July 2017.

In a March 29 speech, King Abdullah II underlined Jordan’s “ongoing efforts for a lasting resolution of the region’s core conflict, the Palestinian-Israeli crisis.” Jordan supports a two-state solution, with a viable, independent, sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to the king. It also supports a secure Israel, “fully part of its own region, recognized by Arab and Muslims states around the world.”

Jordan quietly has sounded the alarm since December 2016, prodding the United States against recognition of Jerusalem and tempering Oman’s recent outreach to Israel with a push for a Palestinian state. It is a stark choice for the kingdom. King Abdullah I was assassinated in Jerusalem by a Palestinian in 1951, and King Hussein had to face down a Palestinian uprising in 1970. Any crises with the Palestinians could directly impact Amman.

Lastly, Jordan has been closely involved in the war against ISIS, and sees the fight against terror as essential to regional stability. A Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot was burned alive by ISIS in January 2015. Recently, 13 suspects went on trial in Jordan for involvement in a terror cell. In Irbid, near Al-Buwayda, Jordanian security forces have detained and sentenced to death suspected ISIS members. Though ISIS was defeated in the past year, concerns remain about its threat in the region.

In separate meetings, Jordan hosted Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for African Affairs Ahmed Abdul Aziz Kattan on April 17. Unique in the region, Jordan has warm relations with both sides of the Gulf crisis and recently hosted Arab leaders at Dead Sea conferences in January and in April.

Jordan requires support. It received commitments as part of the Jordan Compact in 2016 and London Initiative this March, but hosting 1 million Syrians, more than half of whom are under age 18, is a growing challenge. Washington is committed to providing $1.27 billion annually in assistance, including $350 million in foreign military financing to the kingdom.

The Trump administration’s peace plan comes at a complex time, just as Jordan is trying to emerge from years of economic crises and to play a role in regional security. In discussions with Syrian refugees in Jordan, none of them said they were willing to return to Syria. Many families have raised children in the kingdom in the past eight years and consider themselves part of a new Syrian-Jordanian population. They fear Bashar al-Assad’s forcible conscription even after Syria reopened the border with Jordan in October 2018, and won’t risk their sons being detained.

Jordan wants to achieve stability by continuing to host the Syrians, but it will have difficulty doing that and facing a major Palestinian-Israeli crisis at the same time.

“Any future arrangements without [the king’s] approval will not be done well,” a Palestinian security officer told me in early April. Unlike Egypt, Jordan has little space to maneuver, he said. As custodian of Christian and Muslim holy sites, the king sees Jerusalem as a key issue — something made clear by posters throughout Jordan showing the king next to images of Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

The Trump administration has sought to call bluffs in the past about violence resulting from the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem and its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. It would do well to look closely at developments in Jordan, to see how the Syrian conflict and the end of the ISIS war make Amman central to what happens next in Jerusalem.

Seth J. Frantzman spent three years in Iraq and other countries in the region researching the war on terror and Islamic State. He is executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis. A former assistant professor of American Studies at Al-Quds University, he covers the Middle East for The Jerusalem Post and is a writing fellow at the Middle East Forum. Follow him on Twitter @sfrantzman.

Source: https://thehill.com/opinion/international/440460-jordan-in-crucible-of-middle-east-peace-deal-and-syrian-refugee-crisis

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There has been more talk recently from the Palestinians, Israelis and Jordanians about the option of a confederation as an alternative to the two-state solution in light of the political impasse reached between Ramallah and Tel Aviv. So what are the true positions of the three governments on this option, the chances of this being achieved on the ground, the official reactions of these countries, and public opinion on the matter?

Palestinian-Israeli relations have reached an unprecedented political stalemate because of the stalled negotiations between them since 2014. This may have prompted Palestinians to think outside the box or refer back to old talk of a confederation with the Hashemite Kingdom.

Such a confederation aims to establish one state for two peoples after the Palestinian state is established on the territories occupied by Israel in 1967. This single state will have two capitals — Jerusalem for the Palestinians and Amman for the Jordanians — as well as a central judicial authority and joint armed forces led by the Jordanian monarch. It will also include a central council of ministers and parliament elected by both nations, while both will be allowed to move freely between the two areas.

In recent months, the Palestinian and Israeli media have been busy talking about a confederation in an attempt to find alternatives that take Palestinians out of the political impasse. According to Israeli academic and political circles, a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation is suitable given the political circumstances, with US President Donald Trump trying to revive the proposal. Israel is also trying to strengthen this option by restoring Jordanian control of parts of the West Bank, which is favourable for the Zionist state.

READ: Jordan to carry out aid projects in support of Palestinian refugees

The current Israeli assessment is positive because the Palestinian Authority cannot stay in the West Bank without financial support from the US and Israeli security. The PA will not succeed in finding alternatives to the generous US aid, so it may be appropriate for Trump’s aides to resume their efforts towards confederation.

The Israelis reject the two-state solution and believe that the Palestinian confederation with Jordan may be the best choice for themselves because it kills several birds with one stone. For a start, it spares Israel from the responsibility of managing the affairs of millions of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, with the PA’s reduced financial resources. It also means that the two-state solution is no longer feasible, which reinforces the opinion of the Israeli right-wing that the “two states” route is dead and buried. The current US approach, remember, rarely addresses the two-state solution as it moves towards greater, but still limited, autonomy for the Palestinians.

What’s more, Israel’s talk of Egyptian guardianship over Gaza becomes more credible, perhaps by transferring Egypt’s administrative and security responsibility for the territory, even if the parties themselves continue to reject it, at least in public.

Confederation also revives the old Israeli right-wing suggestion of the “alternative homeland” of Jordan, about which Amman has many reservations. There are Israeli predictions which surface from time to time that King Abdullah II will the last Jordanian monarch from the Hashemites.

Finally, a Palestine-Jordan confederation will preserve security in the West Bank given that the Jordanian security forces will maintain calm on the border with Israel that has lasted for decades. This is a win-win situation for Israel, as Jordan will be responsible for preventing resistance operations within the West Bank over issues of conflict, including settlements, the status of Jerusalem and borders.

This is not simply a subject of discussion within research and academic circles; the US administration has also proposed it to the Palestinians, according to PA President Mahmoud Abbas. The idea was presented as a single sovereign state — Jordan — that would be expanded to include an additional autonomous territory called the West Bank, although the Palestinians have reservations about this.

What it all means is that the idea of a confederation between Jordan and Palestine has returned to the agenda, so we could see the conflict resolved in a creative and innovative manner. This is despite the fact that concessions over the territories involved will be necessary if the proposal is to be viable.

The current Israeli election campaign is throwing up suggested programmes for alternatives to the current way of managing the occupied territories. One of these is to return at least part of the West Bank to Jordanian guardianship due to the failure of the Palestinians and Israelis to reach a solution. For a confederation to come into being, though, will require Israel to evacuate its troops and citizens from the Palestinian areas.

This Israeli proposal would mean that the Palestinians will become the demographic majority in the Hashemite Kingdom, which the Jordanians fear and are likely to reject out of hand. In any case, Amman will argue, the Palestinians have the legitimate right to establish their own independent state, although this does not mean that the Jordanians are open to any option which comes in a single package, under Washington’s auspices.

READ: Jordan denies pregnant Palestinian woman access to West Bank

Moreover, the four-way Israel-Palestine-Jordan-US discussion about a confederation suggests that the two-state solution has been taken off the table altogether. Although none of the parties has agreed as yet, it could be a serious alternative, and an important step for the future, even though the element of trust between the concerned parties is very weak. Israel believes that a Jordan-Palestine confederation can be implemented gradually by creating a network of cooperation across civil society which will be sufficient to create mutual trust and thus pressure on the Jordanians to be the Palestinians’ elder sibling.

Washington is preparing to announce the details of the “deal of the century” in the coming weeks, and views the confederation option as an important one, despite the fact that Jordan is not exactly rushing to embrace it with open arms, not least because of the potential for the Kingdom to be de-stabilized. There are clearly many questions and not so many clear answers, causing some important circles within Jordan to fear for their national identity within a confederation. Such concern is understandable, perhaps, when we look at the demographics: Jordan currently hosts 2.2 million Palestinian refugees, out of its total population of 9.5 million, meaning that only 6.6 million are indigenous Jordanians. Add around 3 million Palestinians from the West Bank and Jerusalem, and the nature of the Kingdom as “Jordan” could start to change into a de facto “Palestinian State”.

According to the latest opinion polls, the Palestinians welcome the idea of a confederation with Jordan and see it as an appropriate way out of their predicament. They have historical relations and family ties with the Jordanians, so a confederation may be an acceptable way to be rid of the Israeli occupation.

There is constant communication between the officials in Amman and Ramallah, with respected and prominent Palestinian figures going to the Jordanian capital to meet with senior officials. These individuals openly support the idea of confederation and show great loyalty to the Hashemites.

Nevertheless, there are legal difficulties. A confederation would require a referendum among Palestinians within Palestine and in the diaspora; this would be hard to conduct freely and fairly given the distribution of the Palestinians around the world. The institutions that would probably be expected to conduct the referendum, such as the PLO executive committee, are not constitutional because they were formed without being elected democratically by the Palestinians, so that is an obstacle. Furthermore, a confederation would bestow legitimacy on the Israeli settlements, while the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their land will be off the agenda forever.

The resultant “Palestinian state” in the West Bank will be made up of demilitarized cantons lacking in contiguity; it will not be a fully-fledged sovereign state. Israel will thus evade the legal burdens of occupation and any possibility of it being called to account for its crimes against the Palestinians.

We are entitled to ask why there is growing Palestinian support for confederation with Jordan. It may be because the Palestinians have lost all hope of having an independent state and no longer have much trust in the PA after witnessing its successive political failures in its dealings with Israel. Jordan may also be seen as their gateway to the world, bypassing the tools of the occupation which have kept them behind the hated Apartheid Wall and endless military checkpoints. All things considered, a Palestine-Jordan Confederation is becoming a very real possibility.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Source: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190218-a-palestine-jordan-confederation-is-becoming-a-very-real-possibility/

The post A Palestine-Jordan Confederation is becoming a very real possibility first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Pope Francis has made dialogue with Islam a cornerstone of his papacy, which began in 2013, and visited several countries with large Muslim populations.

In February he will become the first pontiff to go to the Arabian Peninsula when he visits the United Arab Emirates. He is scheduled to travel to Morocco in March.

Here is a recap of some of his other trips to meet Muslims.

– Jordan, Palestinian territories, Israel –

In May 2014 Pope Francis receives a warm welcome in Jordan’s capital Amman from King Abdullah II and meets with Syrian refugees.

Pope Francis prays at Israel’s separation barrier with the West Bank at Bethlehem in 2014

A day later he begins a pilgrimage to the Holy Land at Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, stopping off for a silent prayer at the controversial separation wall erected by the Israelis.

Francis also visits some of the most sacred sites in Islam and Judaism, including the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and the Western Wall.

– Albania –

In September the same year he visits Albania where he praises the peaceful coexistence of its Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslims, labelling it “a precious gift to the country”.

Francis says it is especially important “in these times where an authentic religious spirit is being perverted and where religious differences are being distorted”.

– Turkey –

In November 2014 he travels to Turkey where there is a comparatively tiny Christian community — just 80,000 among about 75 million Muslims.

In Istanbul’s famous Blue Mosque, Francis clasps his hands in prayer alongside a senior Islamic cleric, a gesture of fraternity with Islam similar to that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, in the same place eight years before.

While the pope defends the alliance of religions against terrorism, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, responds by issuing a strong warning about “seriously and rapidly” rising Islamophobia in the world.

– Central Africa –

Pope Francis in Central African Republic in 2015, when he called for peace between Christians and Muslims

In November 2015 Pope Francis is given a rapturous welcome in the Central African Republic, a country plagued by sectarian violence.

During his 26 hours there, he visits a mosque in Bangui’s flashpoint PK5 Muslim neighbourhood where he says Christians and Muslims are “brothers”.

“Together, we must say no to hatred, to revenge and to violence,” he says.

Among the crowd are several Muslims from PK5 wearing T-shirts bearing the pope’s image.

– Azerbaijan –

In October 2016 the pontiff makes a brief visit to mainly Muslim Azerbaijan, a volatile ex-Soviet Caucasus region.

There he praises the “benefits of multiculturalism and of the necessary complementary of cultures” where the different religions practice “mutual collaboration and respect”.

– Egypt –

A poster welcomes Pope Francis to Egypt in 2017

In April 2017 Francis pays the second papal visit to Egypt of modern times, 17 years after that of pope John Paul II.

In a country where 10 percent of the population of 92 million is Coptic Christian, he says “true faith” depends on “the culture of encounter, dialogue, respect and fraternity.”

He visits Al-Azhar university, one of the Muslim world’s leading religious authorities with whom the Vatican’s ties soured in 2006 when Benedict XVI made a speech in which he was seen as linking Islam to violence.

– Myanmar and Bangladesh –

In December 2017, during a visit to Bangladesh, the pope asks for “forgiveness” from Muslim Rohingya refugees who have fled persecution in neighbouring Myanmar in their hundreds of thousands.

“In the name of all those who have persecuted you, who have harmed you, in the face of the world’s indifference, I ask for your forgiveness,” he says after meeting 16 Rohingya refugees.

The pontiff had just made a four-day visit to Myanmar where he called on Buddhist clergy to conquer “prejudice and hatred”, without explicitly referring to the Rohingyas.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-6652101/Pope-Francis-reaching-Muslims.html

The post Pope Francis: reaching out to Muslims first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

On Sunday, King Abdullah II dropped a bombshell when he announced that Jordan would not renew parts of the 24-year-old peace agreement with Israel.

In a first statement the King said he had informed Israel “that we are putting an end to the application of the peace treaty annexes regarding Baqura and Ghumar.”

He was referring to two parcels of Jordanian land in north and south Israel which were leased for a period of 25 years by Jerusalem under the peace treaty signed in November 1994 by Abdullah’s father, King Hussein, and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, whose assassination was commemorated the same day Abdullah made his announcement.

Abdullah II said he would not renew a lease agreement of the two parcels of land in the Arava desert north of Eilat and the Jordan Valley close to the Sea of Galilee because of “regional circumstances,” and vowed to protect “the interests” of “Jordan and the Jordanians.”

The decision took Israel by surprise despite the fact that relations between the two countries were already deteriorating since July 2017, when Ziv Moyal, an Israeli security guard, killed two Jordanians in the compound of Israel’s embassy in Amman.

One of the Jordanians tried to stab Moyal, who said he clearly acted in self-defense, but the Jordanian government nevertheless wanted to try him for murder.

The incident triggered a diplomatic standoff which only ended after Jordan received an official Israeli ‘memorandum’ in which the government in Jerusalem apologized for the death of the two Jordanians as well as for the death of a Jordanian judge who was killed in another incident in 2014.

In recent months, King Abdullah II faced increasing pressure to cancel the whole peace agreement with Israel over the country’s treatment of the Palestinian Arabs and after the United States recognized Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem and relocated the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel’s capital.

Several mass demonstrations, the latest last Saturday, were held in Jordanian cities during which protesters demanded the King would “reassert Jordanian sovereignty” over the two leased parcels of land.

About 80 Jordanian lawmakers later joined the popular protest and signed a letter urging Abdullah II to cancel the peace agreement with Israel.

There are several other reasons King Abdullah decided to cancel a part of the peace agreement with Israel.

First of all, the protests in Jordan are not about Israel but about the dire economic situation in the country and about the King himself who is accused of being corrupt and addicted to gambling.

During the mass demonstration in Amman on Saturday demonstrators chanted slogans such as “No loyalty to anyone but Allah and the corrupt (king) must leave” and “we no longer waste time; Abdullah is the only one to blame.”

Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUTM3Sjsfoo

Earlier this year Jordanian protesters took the streets to demonstrate against rising prices and a proposed hike in income tax which were mandated by the International Monetary Fund as part of austerity measures.

The demonstrations, which were instigated by the Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, led to cosmetic changes in the Jordanian government but not to a significant improvement in the economic situation.

Secondly, King Abdullah II is currently adjusting Jordan’s policies vis a vis Turkey and Syria where dictator Bashar al-Assad has regained control over more than two thirds of the country including the Jordanian border region.

The King is trying to mend ties with Assad and earlier this month reopened the Nassib border crossing on the Syrian border despite opposition by the United States and Israel.

The Jordanian government has a vested interest in the return of Syrian refugees who have aggravated the already dire economic situation in the country and will soon welcome a high-level Syrian delegation headed by Prime minister Walid Moallem to discuss the refugee problem and the changing regional situation.

At the same time, Abdullah II is talking with the Turkish government about a change in the routing of Turkish exports to Jordan and the Arab Gulf states.

These exports are currently routed via the Israeli port of Haifa. Abdullah II, however, wants Turkey to use the land route via Syria again and dispatched his Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz to Ankara to achieve this goal in talks with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

By not extending the lease agreement regarding the two Israeli enclaves in Jordan Abdullah II is signaling he will sacrifice good relations with Israel on the altar of his new alignment with Turkey and Syria.

At the same time, he knows that if his regime wants to survive he needs to appease the Islamist hardliners in Jordan who are increasingly targeting the monarch’s handling of Jordan’s multiple problems.

Israel Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has now vowed he will push for negotiations with Abdullah II in order to reinstate the lease agreement.

In light of the “regional circumstances” the Jordanian King was referring to chances are slim, however, the Israeli government will succeed to save the two important agricultural areas.

Source: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/Default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=35089

The post ANALYSIS: Why King Abdullah II Nixed Parts of Jordan-Israel Peace Deal first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Trump administration is close to releasing a long-awaited Middle East peace proposal that officials said would present U.S. goals for a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, despite the Palestinian position that President Trump cannot be an honest broker.

The proposal is likely to be released within weeks, with the aim of beginning negotiations between the parties, perhaps as early as this summer, diplomats and other officials said. It has been delayed by a months-long Palestinian boycott in protest of Trump’s policy that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas may reject the framework out of hand.

“If he doesn’t give it a read, if he just sticks with the language which he’s been saying publicly, such as the U.S. is out [as a peacemaker] and that he won’t even look at it, that type of language, well shame on him,” a senior Trump administration official said. “How does that help the Palestinian people?”

The exact timing of a release is not set. “We’re going to let the situation on the ground determine when to do it rather than deciding on a deadline and force it,” said the official, who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not been released. “We have one shot, right? We want to get it right.”

Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and the chief U.S. negotiator, former Trump attorney Jason D. Greenblatt, are visiting Arab capitals and Israel this week to describe some elements of the administration’s vision and seek help in drawing Palestinian leadership to the table.

[Jared Kushner receives permanent security clearance]

They are not meeting with Abbas or his advisers. Abbas and his Fatah party have refused to meet or talk with White House officials since December, when Trump announced the change to decades of U.S. policy on Jerusalem. Trump recognized it as the Israeli capital and also followed through with a campaign promise to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the city, part of which the Palestinians also claim as the capital of a future state.

“We will not meet them, and that’s the position,” said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

He accused the Trump administration of “unprecedented” pro-Israel bias.

The plan, some 18 months in the making, is expected to include U.S. recommendations to resolve the major disputes in the 70-year conflict, including the status of Jerusalem, as well as economic and humanitarian proposals aimed at improving Palestinian daily life. It is unlikely to satisfy the core Palestinian demand that Israel relinquish all the territory it captured from Arab states in the 1967 wars.

The Trump administration has sought to pressure Abbas through other Arab leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II. After the Kushner delegation met with Abdullah on Tuesday, the Jordanian palace said the king “stressed the need to reach a just and comprehensive peace.”

Abdullah told the envoys that Jordan remains committed to the Palestinian demands for peace — an independent state “on the 4 June 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.” Much of the land the Palestinians seek is now occupied by Israeli settlements.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also met with Abdullah in the past week, and Palestinian officials met with him Wednesday.

While insisting that any deal must ultimately include the land and Jerusalem provisions, Jordan has been pressing the Palestinians to sit down and talk with the Americans and to push back at what they find unacceptable.

But Jordan’s position is somewhat different from that of the Persian Gulf monarchies the administration expects to fund economic inducements to the Palestinians. Abdullah is not only the “custodian” of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem — Jordan also has significant bilateral issues with Israel to consider, including water rights and border security. At the same time, more than 2 million Palestinians live in Jordan.

Jordan also shares borders with Syria and Iraq and is housing at least 1.3 million Syrian refugees, straining its already foundering economy.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have given public support to the Palestinians’ position and cannot afford politically to abandon them. But the issue has become a distraction for them.

Both are laser-focused on the perceived threat from Iran and are pleased with the administration’s policies toward Tehran. Israeli media has been filled with reports that the Saudis and Emiratis are prepared to back the U.S. plan and will twist Abbas’s arm to at least enter negotiations.

[How Jared Kushner forged a bond with the Saudi crown prince]

At the same time, the Saudis and Emiratis, along with Kuwait, have stepped in to provide financial assistance to Jordan, earlier this month pledging $2.5 billion to help support its economy. Qatar has also promised $500 million.

The decision to release the plan with no indication that Abbas will entertain it is one sign that the Trump administration is looking past the 82-year-old leader.

Trump’s tenure has marked a low point for U.S.-Palestinian relations, with the president accusing Abbas and his Fatah leadership of disrespecting Vice President Pence, among others, by refusing to meet since the Dec. 6 embassy announcement. Trump had held positive meetings with Abbas before that, including at the White House, and spoke hopefully about brokering the “ultimate deal” to settle the conflict.

Since the breach, the Trump administration has focused on humanitarian and economic initiatives for the West Bank, where Abbas is headquartered, and the Gaza Strip, which is governed by the rival Palestinian faction Hamas.

Abbas was hospitalized repeatedly last month, including an extended stay to treat a lung infection. He has announced no intention to step down, but questions of who would succeed him have roiled Palestinian politics this year. The United States takes no position, the senior administration official said, but part of the U.S. strategy is to go around the Palestinian “old guard” to make a case for an agreement with Israel.

“We want the Palestinian people to hear our message directly,” the official said. “They are fed so much misinformation, and we want to address that.”

“That doesn’t mean we can solve the peace process” that way, the official said. “At the end of the day, if we don’t solve Jerusalem, don’t solve security issues, maybe there’s no peace agreement. But what can happen is an improvement in lives. They are looking for both, and they don’t think this leadership can improve their lives.”

The bad blood between the Trump team and Abbas was evident in recent weeks as Erekat and Greenblatt sparred in the opinion pages of Israeli newspapers.

“The Palestinians deserve so much better than Saeb Erekat,” read the title of an editorial by Greenblatt that ran last week in the Haaretz newspaper.

In an interview, Erekat accused the United States of trying to change the Palestinian leadership and negotiators. He said the Palestinians held 35 meetings with Trump officials before the Jerusalem decision and see no reason to engage again.

“There is no plan,” Erekat said. “Kushner and Greenblatt are trying to dictate the solution by making Jerusalem the capital of Israel, legitimizing the settlements and changing the conflict from a political one to a humanitarian one.”

The Palestinian leadership has criticized the reported effort by Kushner and Greenblatt to rally Arab support for a $1 billion Gaza investment fund during their regional tour.

“Of course we want Gaza’s suffering to be eliminated,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee. “What they are trying to do is sever Gaza from Palestine and address the concern that is Israel’s security instead of looking at a political solution.”

She said that the U.S. administration appears to have a strategy of “economic peace through Gaza, while making the Arab world pay for it.”

Morris reported from Jerusalem. Ruth Eglash in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-close-to-releasing-mideast-peace-proposal-that-palestinian-leadership-may-immediately-reject/2018/06/20/32ffa498-73f1-11e8-805c-4b67019fcfe4_story.html?utm_term=.b3d15827a100

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