Israeli Minister calls for economic deal instead of ‘peace’ deal with PA

Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called for Trump to pursue an economic deal instead of an overall peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked suggested that US President Donald Trump pursue an economic deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) instead of an overall peace process, while speaking at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC.

“The President has an opportunity to focus on an economic deal,” Shaked said. “It means to talk with the moderate Arab states, some of whom already have economic relations with Israel…to boost the PA economy, to invest in infrastructure, to invest in industrial zones.”

“If you think about the people in the Middle East, this could be much more beneficial for the populations of both Israel and the Palestinians,” she added.

Shaked also said we should avoid the strategies pursued by previous leaders. “People who are really involved with what’s going on in the Middle East understand that the gaps between the Palestinians and the Israelis are much too big,” Shaked contended.

“The case of the (PA) salaries to (Palestinian) terrorists is one thing,” she added. “The fact is that Abu Mazen (PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas) was here and he didn’t recognize Israel as a Jewish state. He even didn’t say two states for two peoples.”

Shaked also touched on the non-negotiable status of Jerusalem, a city the PA insists on as a capital for their future state.

“We, of course, will never give up on Jerusalem,” she stressed. “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people. We are not going to split Jerusalem.”

By: World Israel News Staff