Palestinians taking Trump efforts to resolve Israel-Palestinian conflict ‘seriously’

“Trump’s first foray into the complex world of foreign trips as president, which often requires tact, stamina and discipline, was going to be hard for him in any case”.

The museum, one of the most important cultural institutions in Israel housing Jewish artifacts going back millennia, is located in heart of Jerusalem, overlooking the Holy City from between the Knesset and the Supreme Court.

“We shared a lot of sensitive intelligence about terrorism operations that were planned against the Russians”, he said. The White House disputed the account.

White House aides insist Trump is getting up-to-speed on the issues and that the time could be right for his “disruptive” approach to challenge failed policies of the past.

That was an odd statement because if Tillerson means the elected Israeli government, its view has been consistent and unequivocal in support of putting the U.S. Embassy in the actual Israeli capital.

Ambassador Oren, welcome to the program. Asked if he understood what Trump’s Middle East policy was, one senior official replied: “I’m not entirely sure they know what it is”. Conflicting comments from administration officials regarding Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem’s Western Wall have only added to the concerns. It’s not going to impact that relationship in any way.

“The only factor that might provide some sense of relief for Netanyahu is the impression that Trump doesn’t have it in him to get committed to such a complex and extended process”, Mr. Alpher says.

Trump must understand that the success of future peace talks rest entirely on addressing the above three obstacles through a process of reconciliation, and that the best thing that the USA can do at this juncture is initiate a reconciliatory process and play the role of a mediator while monitoring both sides to ensure that they live up to these requirements.

The relationship between the two countries, he continued, “is central to keeping Israel safe and America strong”.

Washington, in turn, provides Israel with financial and military assistance, and intelligence that USA agencies collect on threats far beyond Israel’s immediate borders. “Things are moving at a much faster pace than the Israelis anticipated, given that the Israeli right declared Trump’s election as the end of a Palestinian state”. However does anyone recognise the enormous irony of the leader of the free world meeting in a country which suppresses the rights of women, promotes a most extreme form of Islam and forbids any religion other than Islam from openly being practiced in the kingdom? Moreover, we were honored and grateful that you pledged to specifically uphold this policy in response to a request from the American Christian Leaders for Israel coalition during your campaign.

OREN: Well, for almost eight years, we were bogged down with Palestinian preconditions – Israel had to free prisoners; Israel had to freeze building here and there – and we never got to negotiations. Gradually, a new atmosphere would enable leaders to defy provocation and advance toward a negotiated final status agreement, empowered by their publics’ desire to live in two separate states and their confidence that it is possible. “The paper quickly gets to the heart of the matter, saying that hesitance to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, because of ‘fear of Islamic backlash, ‘ is not policy ‘based on principle, fairness and historical right – but it is based exclusively on weakness and fear'”.

OREN: (Laughter) You could say that, if you will.

Yossi Klein Halevi, the Israeli journalist and author, recommends that we have two different kinds of conversations about Israel in our community.

But the 23% of Israelis who no longer believe the administration is more pro-Israel did not shift to believing it is more pro-Palestinian. It has to be demilitarized. Of course no mention will be made of the fact that any catastrophe visited upon the local Arabs was as a result of their own rejection of the 1947 partition plan and subsequent attempts to wipe out the Jewish State or indeed recognise its right to exist. They don’t even recognize us as a people. Both individuals spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to relay the sentiments they gleaned from conversations with current intelligence officials. We are willing to sit at the table tomorrow without any conditionality, and we want the Palestinians to do the same.

“I think the president’s being very measured in how he goes about this”. He comes from the business community, not from the diplomatic community.

Right-wing Israeli cabinet ministers celebrated a new era, floating proposals to annex large settlements to Israel, starting with the town of Maaleh Adumim near Jerusalem.