NEW YORK, February 08 (APP): More than a hundred Democratic members of the US House of Representatives have expressed strong disapproval at President Donald Trump’s plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
An open letter, initiated by Democratic Congressmen Alan Lowenthal and Andy Levin, warned that Trump’s plan, which he calls “deal of the century'” would pave the way for a “permanent occupation of the West Bank.”
“It does not have our support, and the Israeli government must not take it as license to violate International law by annexing all or portions of the West Bank,” they wrote in the letter released Friday.
The lawmakers blamed the team behind the plan for not consulting the Palestinians, saying it would “hurt Israelis and Palestinians alike, pushing them toward further conflict.”
They also criticized the release of the deal, just ahead of the next month’s general elections in Israel, arguing that the timing suggests an effort to boost Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election bid.
“In addition to the highly problematic nature of your proposal, the timing of its release suggests motives unrelated to helping solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the letter read.
On January 28, Trump unveiled his so-called deal of the century, negotiated with Israel but not with the Palestinians.
Palestinian leaders, who severed all ties with Washington in late 2017 after Trump controversially recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as the “capital” of the Israel immediately rejected the plan, with President Mahmoud Abbas saying it “belongs to the dustbin of history.”
Trump’s Middle East scheme largely meets Israel’s demands in the decades-old conflict while creating a Palestinian state with limited control over its own security and borders.
It also enshrines Jerusalem al-Quds as “Israel’s undivided capital” and allows the regime to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley.
The proposal further denies the right of return of Palestinian refugees into their homeland, among other controversial terms.
Thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip took to the streets in immediate condemnation of the plan.
