Tag: #PeaceProcess

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Why Trump’s funding threat to Palestinians is even more dangerous than his Jerusalem move

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Donald Trump has demonstrated that either he does not understand the situation, or does understand but does not care. (photo: Evan Vucci / AP)

The US president is treating the Middle East peace process like a Manhattan property deal that he can bully to the table.

By Peter Beaumont | The Guardian | Jan 3, 2018

“It’s over. By tweeting that he has taken Jerusalem ‘off the table’ as an issue he has admitted that US diplomats were lying when they said Jerusalem’s status has not been decided. Instead he is trying to use blackmail and a blame game against the Palestinians. What he is admitting is there is no peace process and no peace plan.”
— Palestinian official, speaking anonymously

Donald Trump’s latest intervention in the Middle East peace process — one he has already upended by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — looks to be his most chaotic move yet.

After appointing his son-in-law Jared Kushner as regional adviser and naming the fiercely pro-settlement lawyer David Friedman as his ambassador to Israel, the US president has blundered from crisis to crisis in recent weeks.

His speech recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital breached international consensus and UN resolutions. But the latest move — a threat to cut funding to UNRWA, the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees, and to the Palestinian Authority — is more dangerous still, demonstrating a lack of understanding of the delicate mechanics that help maintain relative peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

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Israelis voice warnings, Palestinians talk of “blackmail” in wake of tweets by Trump

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President Trump formally recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in an address from the White House on Dec 6, 2017. (photo: Kevin Lamarque / Reuters)

Cutting US aid would simultaneously weaken the Palestinian Authority, jeopardize Israeli security, and reduce the ability of the US to broker the peace process.

By Loveday Morris and Ruth Eglash | The Washington Post | Jan 3, 2018

“Cutting aid to the Palestinians at this stage would have the opposite effect to what the Americans want. . . . The situation in Gaza is terrible. If America cuts its aid, it would be catastrophic.”
— Moshe Maoz, an Israeli professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“Traditionally, the Israeli defense establishment has resisted pressure by Israeli hawks who want to shut down UNRWA funding. They say, if it’s not UNRWA, then education will be provided by Hamas.”
— Ofer Zalzberg, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group

President Trump’s threat to cut aid to the Palestinians has the potential to backfire, Israeli security officials and analysts warned Wednesday, saying it could weaken a Palestinian leadership that cooperates with Israel on security matters and fuel extremism by worsening already dire humanitarian conditions.

Palestinian officials accused the United States of using bullying tactics after both Trump and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley indicated that the administration may cut funding to the Palestinians if they do not enter into peace talks with Israel. Palestinians “will not be blackmailed,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee.

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Trump threatens to cut US aid to Palestinians

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Donald Trump said negotiating on Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was “off the table,” a move that caused protests in Gaza and elsewhere. (photo: ZUMA Wire / Rex / Shutterstock)

Tuesday’s tweets mark a tacit admission by Trump that his decision to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem had thrown a wrench into his administration’s plans to restart the peace process.

By Peter Beaumont | The Guardian | Jan 3, 2018

“The only thing the president has accomplished by saying he’s taking Jerusalem ‘off the table’ is to ensure he’ll have no place at the table where the conflict will be resolved diplomatically and a peaceful, secure future for the Jewish or Palestinian peoples ensured.
“In threatening to cut off future ‘huge’ payments to the Palestinians, the president is actually posing a direct threat to Israel’s security & well-being. American aid supports training for Palestinian security forces who have been partners of the IDF in preventing terror.”
— Jeremy Ben-Ami, President of J Street

Donald Trump has dramatically escalated his conflict with the Palestinian leadership, threatening to cut funding for the Palestinian Authority unless it recommences peace talks.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, earlier said the US would cut funds to UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, unless the Palestinian Authority went back to the negotiating table.

In what appeared to be an angry and defensive acknowledgement that his quest for the “ultimate deal” of Middle East peace has foundered following his controversial recognition in December of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Trump lashed out at the Palestinian leadership.

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