Where does US stand?
WASHINGTON – Since US President Donald Trump revealed his Middle East vision at the end of January, all the relevant players: Israel, the Palestinians, the EU, the Arab world and the UN, have been working to understand when and under what circumstances the president will green light Israeli annexation.
In the past few weeks, different statements from different US stakeholders have been made regarding the timeline and the conditions that need to be met before Israel can move forward with the plan.
And while these stakeholders share the same general view about Israel’s right to apply its laws to West Bank settlements, they have been handling different portfolios and have different priorities, which makes it harder for the administration to communicate a unified message. So where does each one of them stand?
Ambassador David Friedman is considered the most vocal supporter of Israeli sovereignty, and he told The Jerusalem Post in an interview last month that Israel could annex the parts of the West Bank mentioned in Trump’s plan with US approval by July 1, but Israel is the one that has to make it happen.
“We will be ready to
address this issue if Israel is ready,” Friedman said. “Ultimately, as Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo said, it’s Israel’s decision. They have to decide what they want to do.” He said that before it happens, the joint US-Israel committee should finish its mapping process on the ground.
The second condition, he mentioned to the Post last month, is that Netanyahu pledges his commitment to Trump’s peace plan and all it entails, including freezing settlement activity outside the 30% of Judea and Samaria delineated by the mapping committee, and expresses a willingness to negotiate with the Palestinians towards the formation of a demilitarized state on the remainder of the West Bank.
People familiar with the peace team’s work also noted that Friedman, as the ambassador to Israel, is tasked full time to the Israeli-Palestinian issue, while other members of the group are working on additional portfolios and sometimes won’t comment on the conflict for months.
Jared Kushner, the president’s senior adviser and son-in-law, was tasked in March to lead the federal response to the COVID19 crisis. Since then, it has been his main focus. He was also advising the president in recent days regarding the widespread protests across the US, which is the top priority at the White House at the moment. On top of that, Kushner is the president’s