The Muslim world must correct an historic error and finally recognize the Jewish state, President Donald Trump said Tuesday as he unveiled his long-anticipated “deal of the century” for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“It’s time for the Muslim world to fix the mistake of 1948 and recognize Israel,” Trump said.
Recognition was also one of the conditions for the Palestinians to finally receive their own state under the plan for what Trump called “a realistic two-state solution.”
Israel would have full control of Jerusalem and of settlements, he said, and “Jerusalem will remain Israel’s undivided capital.”
He later added, however, that “eastern Jerusalem” would be the capital of the Palestinian state. The Palestinians would get peripheral neighborhoods in Jerusalem that are already outside the Israeli security fence, namely Kfar Aqab, Abu Dis and some of Shuafat.
The U.S. would “work to create a territory for a contiguous Palestinian state in the future” that would “reject terrorism,” he said.
The flashpoint holy site of the Temple Mount would remain under the current status quo overseen by Jordan’s Islamic Waqf. Israel would continue working with the Jordanians to allow Muslim prayer at the Al Aqsa Mosque.
“This vision for peace is fundamentally different from past diplomacies,” Trump said. “Even the most well-intentioned plans were light on factual details and heavy on conceptual framework.”
He added that the 80-page long plan is “the most detailed proposal ever.”
It would “do a lot for the Palestinians or it just wouldn’t be fair,” he said.
The plan sees borders for a future Palestinian state that would see Israel making “territorial sacrifices for the sake of peace,” he said.
The proposal “more than doubles Palestinian territory,” he said.
“No Palestinians or Israelis will be uprooted from their homes,” he said.
He added that the contiguous Palestinian state would be established such that it “resolves the risk to Israel’s security” and the risk of terror attacks.
“We will never ask Israel to compromise its security,” he said.
Some $50 billion would be infused into the new Palestinian state, he said. His proposal would see an “end the cycle of Palestinian dependence on charity,” Trump said.
Trump said he was “saddened by the fate of the Palestinian people. They deserve a far better life — they deserve a chance to achieve their extraordinary potential.”
“We will be there every step of the way. It will work. If they do it, it’ll work,” he said.