Netanyahu, after ‘tremendous discussions’ with Trump team, says Palestinians stripped of veto on peace

After rattling off a litany of unreasonable Palestinian demands, Netanyahu said, “If we have to wait for the Palestinians, we would have to wait forever.”

By David Isaac, World Israel News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterized the talks with senior Trump adviser Jared Kushner and others who arrived in Israel on Sunday as “tremendous,” in a press briefing following the meeting.

“Tomorrow you will be on the first ever Israeli commercial flight to the UAE together with a high-level Israel delegation. We’re all thrilled by the pace – the swift pace of normalization – between Israel and the UAE,” Netanyahu said.

He noted that on Saturday the UAE officially ended its boycott of the Jewish State. “And this opens the door to what can only be called unbridled trade, tourism, investments – exchanges between the Middle East’s two most advanced economies,” the prime minister said.

“The day will come and it won’t be far away when we will ask ‘How could it have been any other way?'” he said, “because today’s breakthroughs will become tomorrow’s norms. It will pave the way for other countries to normalize their ties with Israel.”

Netanyahu also said that the Palestinians “have had for far too long a veto on peace.” That veto wasn’t just between Israel and the Palestinians but also Israel and Arab nations, he said.

After rattling off a litany of unreasonable Palestinian demands, Netanyahu said, “If we have to wait for the Palestinians, we would have to wait forever.”

The two big changes are the Trump plan and the Arab states’ willingness to “advance peace” with Israel independent of the Palestinians, Netanyahu said.

The prime minister said the Trump plan is the “first realistic initiative for an Israeli-Palestinian peace.”

Netanyahu also spoke about the threat from Iran. “The tyrants of Tehran want to take us back to a dark age of theocratic medievalism and if this terrorist, murderous regime ever developed nuclear weapons or the means to develop it, they would promptly scuttle the peace and they would endanger the entire world. We must not let that happen.”