Trump peace talks to be held ‘later’
Palestinians go on strike as US leader arrives in Israel
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump arrived in Israel yesterday on the second leg of his first overseas trip since entering office, and said he had new reasons to hope for peace and stability to the Middle East after his visit to Saudi Arabia.
In a stopover lasting 28 hours, Trump was to meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
He was set to pray at Judaism’s Western Wall and visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in East Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank yesterday, and travel to Bethlehem today, also in occupied territory.
Netanyahu, his wife Sara, President Reuven Rivlin and members of the Israeli cabinet were at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport to greet Trump and first lady Melania in a red carpet ceremony, after what is believed to have been the first direct flight from Riyadh to Israel.
“During my travels in recent days, I have found new reasons for hope,” Trump said in a brief speech on arrival.
Netanyahu said Israel shared Trump’s commitment to peace, but repeated his right-wing government’s political and security demands of the Palestinians.
US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, told reporters en route to Tel Aviv that any three-way meeting between Trump, Netanyahu and Abbas was for “a later date”.
When Trump met Abbas this month in Washington, he stopped short of explicitly recommitting his administration to a twostate solution to the decades-old conflict, a long-standing foundation of US policy. He has since spoken in support of Palestinian “self-determination”. Trump has also opted against an immediate move of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a long-time demand of Israel. A senior administration official said last week that Trump remained committed to his campaign pledge to ultimately relocate the embassy, but would not announce this move during this trip.
Meanwhile, Palestinians observed a general strike yesterday, closing businesses and institutions in support of more than 1 300 Palestinians who have been on hunger strike in Israeli prisons since April 17. Activists also blocked roads in the occupied West Bank to prevent commuters from accessing Ramallah.
The media committee for the hunger strike said it was “the first time since the First Palestinian Intifada (1987-1993) that a general strike had been observed in occupied West Bank”.