clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

US envoy says Trump’s Middle East peace plan almost ready

February 23, 2018 at 11:18 am

United States Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley attends the UN Security Council on 20 February 2018 [Atılgan Özdil/Anadolu Agency]

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said yesterday that the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan is almost ready to be publicly released.

“I think they’re finishing it up,” Haley said during a question-and-answer session at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, adding that US negotiators Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt are “still going back and forth”.

“They’re coming up with a plan. It won’t be loved by either side, and it won’t be hated by either side,” she said.

Asked by Institute Director David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, whether the US would be backing a particular framework for conflict resolution, Haley replied that “it’s for them [Israelis and the Palestinians] to decide”.

Read: Haley and Abbas have exposed the fallacy of PA representation at the UN

“If they decide on two states, the United States will support two states. If they decide on certain boundaries, the United States is going to support those boundaries.”

Prompted by Axelrod, Haley elaborated that she thinks “both are pushing for a two-state solution. We’re just going to support whatever they decide they want to do”.

“I do have hope, I do have faith,” Haley said.“The Palestinians deserve better and the Israelis deserve better. Right now, they’re in conflict. It’s not a good situation. If the leaders would put aside their pride and their ego, and think about their people, and improving the quality of life for their people, this peace process will do that.”