President Donald Trump’s long-delayed proposal to break a deadlock in finding a resolution to the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is to be unveiled after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan ends in June, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner said on Tuesday.
THE PLAN HAD BEEN DELAYED OVER ISRAELI ELECTIONS
The proposal, which has been delayed for a variety of reasons over the last 18 months, has two major components. It has a political piece that addresses core issues such as the status of Jerusalem, and an economic part that aims to help the Palestinians strengthen their economy.
“We’re going to wait until after Ramadan now,” Kushner said of the Muslim holy month, which will begin early in May and end early in June.
“WE DON’T FOCUS ON THE OLD TRADITIONAL POINTS”
Kushner, who has been developing the plan with Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, said it was not an effort to impose US will on the region. He would not say whether it called for a two-state solution, a goal of past peace efforts. “Our focus is really on the bottom up which is how do you make the lives of the Palestinian people better, what can you resolve to allow these areas to become more investable,” he said.
“We’ve studied all the past efforts and how they failed and why they failed. I think if people focus on the old traditional talking points, we will never make progress.” he added.
Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping East Jerusalem — occupied by Israel since 1967 — might one day serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.