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Pompeo to PA leadership: ‘You’re free to come up with a counter offer’

Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in Judea and Samaria, Jordan Valley and Gaza to protest Trump’s peace deal.

By World Israel News Staff

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the Palestinian leadership on Wednesday to provide a counteroffer to the “Deal of the Century” rather than reject it straight off the bat.

“We are truly confident that this is a plan that is good for everyone,” he told reporters before taking off to Britain on a five-nation tour. “They are free to come up with a counter offer if that’s what they think is appropriate. We’d look forward to that.”

“We’re prepared to listen, and I know the Israelis will be prepared to sit down and negotiate on the basis of the vision that the President laid out,” he added.

Pompeo expressed his disappointment that the Palestinian Authority quickly rejected the plan and called for a “Day of Rage” instead, rather than take a deal that provides an “enormous opportunity for a better life for the Palestinian people.”

“It’s the first time the Israelis have ever conceded to a map that actually lays down real outlines of what this will look like and what this means, and it provides a clear pathway for a Palestinian state. This is a real vision.” Pompeo said.

“We hope that all the parties – all the Palestinian people both in the West Bank and in Gaza – will consider it thoughtfully and move forward on this basis,” he added.

Pompeo also noted that not only does the U.S. see the proposed plan as a pathway to peace, but so do other Arab states in the region, such as Oman, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.

On Wednesday, thousands of Palestinians heeded PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s call for a day of rage by taking to the streets in Judea and Samaria, the Jordan Valley and Gaza to protest Trump’s peace deal. Protests also broke out at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, as well as in Hebron.

However, several Arab states expressed cautious optimism about the Trump plan and European countries, including the EU backed it, leaving the PA largely isolated in its rejectionism.