US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday / January 13, 2020, in a reference to the "Deal of the Century" solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, that the Trump administration is interested in this issue despite the opposite impressions.
Pompeo made these statements during his appearance at Stanford University in California alongside former US Secretary of State Susan Rice, and following many speculations that the US President Donald Trump´s administration is considering a set of steps that could enable it to support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his planned election battle on March 2, 2020 next.
"We are working hard to build a set of understandings" in the Middle East, Pompeo told a crowd of students. "You will continue to see our efforts related to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians - which have not received much (media) attention recently. We are still working hard on this issue," describing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a "historic challenge."
In this context, two senior Trump administration officials hinted in recent days (according to the Axios website) that the White House could present a "deal of the century" plan before the March 2 elections, in a move that could help Netanyahu in the controversial Israeli elections to be held for the time The third in less than a year.
Last Sunday, January 12, 2020, the AXIUS website published an interview with President Obama´s new national security adviser, Robert O´Brien, in which he said that the administration was not ruling out the plan at the height of the campaign.
According to the site, O´Brien said, "I do not think it depends necessarily on the elections," referring to the timing of the peace plan, as the Trump administration originally planned to publish the plan in early 2019, but postponed publication several times due to the previous Israeli elections, In April 2019 and then in September 2019.
Although the White House attributed the reason for the previous delays in publishing the plan to the political situation in Israel, O´Brien told the site at the end of the week that the Trump administration "is not working on timing anything we do based on internal politics, whether it is for the Palestinians or for the Israelis" Stressing that the administration "does not focus on the timetable for the Israeli elections or when the Palestinians end up in the elections."
These statements add to growing speculation about the Trump administration´s intention to launch the plan soon, even though the White House has not said anything about the plan for months, nor has it been mentioned about the "Trump team" that now consists of President Jared Kushner´s son-in-law, Avi Berkowitz and Brian Hook, that they They had held even one meeting since the resignation of the former envoy of international negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, from his post on October 31, 2019, and may already be preparing for such a move.
Brian Hook, the US President´s envoy on Iranian crisis, and Avi Berkowitz, who was Kushner´s aide at the White House, appointed us instead of Jason Greenblatt.
On this point, an informed source told Al-Quds, "I think Brian Hook is drowned to his ears in the Iranian crisis, which is terrifyingly worsening every moment after the Americans killed the Iranian general (Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani) in Iraq on January 3, and what This was followed by an Iranian response, Iran´s downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane, and the demonstrations that erupted in the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities, so we may be on the verge of a wide military confrontation in the region with Iran. Simply, I think Ambassador Hook is overwhelmed by the Iranian crisis, at the expense of giving the Palestinian-Israeli peace file Required attention. "
"As for Jared (the president´s son-in-law and his first advisor in the White House, Jared Kushner) he is primarily responsible for the campaign to re-elect President Trump for a second term, while the consequences of removing President (Donald Trump) in the House of Representatives interact and exacerbate (12/19/2019)," the source added. And what will be done in the Senate next week from simulating President Trump on the ground of the two charges against him? "
According to all these conditions and files, the source believes that "this will make the next six weeks (between today and March 2) an appropriate period for launching any peace plan, despite the competence of the team (which oversees the deal of the century)".
"I think President Trump, Vice President Trump Mike Pines, and Trump´s Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo want to give Benjamin Netanyahu a strong boost in the upcoming elections. And they will do everything to support him as they did in the past, in recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and moving the embassy last year," the source added. And recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, last November (18/11/2019), and Minister Pompeo considered that Israeli settlements do not contradict international law, and perhaps even recognize the right of Israel to annex the West Bank or parts of it, such as the major settlement blocs and the Gore region Jordan, and T. Salvation Gen. Soleimani serving Netanyahu. They can take other measures to support Netanyahu, he is their friend and their favorite candidate, but put deal of the century requires focused and marketed needs much time and effort must be made to other pressing concerns. "
It is noteworthy that Avi Berkowitz, Special Assistant to Jared Kushner who took the location of Jason Greenblatt as President Trump´s envoy to the "Deal of the Century" plan earlier this month, visited Israel and met with various political leaders during his visit, which the administration has officially described as a "fact-finding mission."
He also attributed to the Jordanian monarch, King Abdullah II, and to Israeli officials that they believe that the Trump administration will launch its plans before the Israeli elections.
