US-sponsored ‘deal of the century’ will likely exclude a sovereign Palestinian state, the Washington Post reports.
A United States’s proposal for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, dubbed “the deal of the century”, will likely not include a fully sovereign Palestinian state, the Washington Post reported.
According to sources familiar with the main elements of the deal, the agreement pledged practical improvements in the lives of Palestinians but stops short of securing a Palestinian state.
The White House is expected to reveal its long-awaited peace deal, spearheaded by Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, later this year.
While officials have kept details of the plan secret, comments from Kushner and other US officials suggest that it “does away with statehood as the starting premise of peace efforts”, the Washington Post reported.
The plan is likely to focus heavily on Israeli security concerns.
It revolves around a proposal that foresees major infrastructure and industrial work, particularly in the besieged Gaza Strip.
For the plan to succeed or even pass the starting gate, it will need at least initial buy-in from both Israel and the Palestinians as well as from the Gulf Arab states, which officials say will be asked to substantially bankroll the economic portion.
Most analysts give Kushner little chance of success where decades of US-backed efforts have failed.
Since the failure of the 1993 Oslo Accords, US-led initiatives to revive a peace deal have been fruitless.
In an effort to salvage elements of the Oslo Accords, including concerns over territory, settlements, Palestinian refugees and the right of return, former US President Bill Clinton attempted to revive negotiations and reach a final-status agreement during the Camp David Summit in 2000.
But the process failed – and ongoing developments, including the continued growth of illegal Jewish settlements in occupied territories, have stymied peace efforts in the ensuing years.
Trump, who has developed an even warmer relationship with Israel than previous US presidents, officially recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last year by moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, breaking with decades of US policy.
The status of Jerusalem has been a sticking point in the conflict.
In 1967, Israel illegally occupied the eastern half of Jerusalem, and in 1980, passed a law declaring it as the eternal and undivided capital of Israel.
