Pompeo fears Israel peace plan is doomed

LEAKED recordings show Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, has privately raised doubts about whether the White House’s Israelipalestinian peace plan has a real chance of succeeding.

Speaking to a closed-door gathering of US Jewish leaders, Mr Pompeo said the long-awaited peace initiative may be “unexecutable” and that he understood why it was widely seen as biased in Israel’s favour.

“It may be rejected,” Mr Pompeo said, according to The Washington Post. “I get why people think this is going to be a deal that only the Israelis could love.”

His comments appear to reflect a growing frustration within the Trump administration at how the peace initiative has been handled by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law. A key irritation is that it has taken more than two years to formulate. “[It] has taken us longer to roll out our plan than I had originally thought it might – to put it lightly,” Mr Pompeo said.

Asked by the Axios website whether the Palestinians were capable of governing themselves without Israeli interference, Mr Kushner said: “That’s one that we’ll have to see. The hope is that they, over time, will become capable of governing.”

He also said “I’m not here to be trusted” when asked why the Palestinian leadership should trust him and other senior members of the peace team, who have longstanding links to the Israeli settlement movement.

The Palestinians have said for months they will reject Mr Kushner’s plan because the US is not an honest broker. The US effort hit a new stumbling block after Israel unexpectedly called new elections in September.