Is Trump considering dropping his peace initiative?

Conflicting reports have emerged on Trump’s plans for his initiative to lead diplomatic negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.  

President Donald Trump is reportedly considering stopping his push to promote a peace initiative between Israel and the Palestinians after a round of failed meetings between his envoys and the Palestinians last week.

Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner, Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and US Consul General in Jerusalem Donald Blome met last week in Ramallah with Palestinian Authority (PA) head Mahmoud Abbas and his senior advisers to discuss the prospects for possible diplomatic negotiations with Israel.

Abbas reportedly left the meeting furious.

Palestinian officials told the London-based al-Hayat  daily that Abbas was outraged by the meeting after Kushner relayed demands that included a request that the PA stop paying stipends to the families of Palestinian terrorists, which the US and Israel consider as a PA paid incentive to commit acts of terrorism.

Abbas reportedly accused Kushner and Greenblatt of taking Israel’s side and refused to commit to the request.

The Al-Hayat Saturday report said that Trump is trying to determine the future of the newly launched Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, including the possibility of withdrawing completely from the process.

“(Kushner) will submit his report to the president and, after it is submitted, Trump will decide if there’s a chance for negotiations or it might be preferable to pull out of peace efforts,” the official said, according to the report..

However, The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior US official on Sunday who called the report “nonsense.”

The Al-Hayat report also said that the envoys disapproved of Abbas’ failure to denounce a deadly stabbing attack in Jerusalem last week, in which Border Policewoman Hadas Malka was stabbed to death.

By: World Israel News Staff