The US president noted that the Palestinians may initially oppose the deal, but it would benefit them: "It's a great plan"
PM Netanyahu and President Trump // Photo: Amos Ben Gershom / UN
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would announce the centennial deal even before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned visit and Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz in Washington next Tuesday.
Netanyahu received an invitation from US Vice President Mike Pence while he was visiting the US Embassy in Jerusalem. Trump noted that the Palestinians may initially oppose the deal, but it will work well with them.
Senior political officials say that once the Palestinian Authority refuses to adopt the plan or comply with some of the conditions it includes, Israel will open a window of historical opportunity. According to them, we are facing historic days on the scale of the Six Day War, because the boundaries of the State of Israel may change - if the government makes the necessary decisions. They added that if Israel applied its sovereignty as the government would allow it, it would mean the death of the Palestinian state and the "death blow to the Palestinian national movement."
Photo: GPO
According to a political source, Israel is actually not required to pay anything within the deal, but receives a lot. According to information currently available in Israel, the government does not expect Israel to recognize a Palestinian state now, but only to express its willingness to discuss it in the future, and only if the Palestinians comply with American conditions - which is unlikely to happen.
According to senior political officials, the ball will be placed very soon in Prime Minister Netanyahu's court. He is the one who will decide whether to go all the way with the sovereignty proposal and already apply sovereignty to the maximum in the coming weeks, or wait until after the elections when it is unknown what their results will be.
In the meantime, Israelis are aware that the US initiative could bring security warming to both Judea and Samaria and Gaza. In addition, there is concern that Jordan will respond severely to developments - a subject that is treated with great sensitivity. Against the backdrop of security deterioration, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett instructed the IDF and the defense establishment to prepare for any developments in the field.
