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Israeli officials are concerned that one of the attractions the White House could bring to Abbas would be to mention Jerusalem as the future capital of the Palestinian state.
President Trump visits the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem (Photo: Reuters)
"Trump wants an agreement and he is very serious," said a senior Israeli official. "For Americans, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is relatively easy to resolve and is ripe for pickup."
The official said that if the Republicans lose power in the upcoming mid-term elections, Trump could step up his efforts to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so he can run for his second term with great success in foreign policy. .
The inclusion of Jerusalem as the future Palestinian capital in the US peace plan could put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a deadlock, especially if he has to call early elections. Netanyahu might insist Americans that such recognition would raise many objections from the right and complicate the task of forming a coalition.
In such a case, the prime minister would probably ask to postpone the publication of the peace plan after the elections in Israel. The Americans plan to release the plan by the end of 2018 or early 2019.
Whatever the case may be, there are quite a few influential figures in Washington who would work to ensure that such a promise is not given to the Palestinians, especially to the American ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.
Ivanka Trump inaugurates the American Embassy in Jerusalem (Photo: EPA)
Senior Israeli officials have revealed that the Trump government has based itself on three principles in developing the peace plan: anyone who comes to the negotiating table should make concessions and there would be no unilateral concessions; anyone leaving the bargaining table would pay a price; and whoever refuses the outline presented will risk that the next contour is more to his disadvantage.
Meanwhile, the businessman and president of the World Jewish Congress, Ron Lauder, a friend of Trump, was recruited to facilitate the reconciliation between Abbas and the US president.
Last week, Lauder met with Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and Palestinian intelligence chief Majed Faraj, Abbas' closest confidant.
While the White House had denied that Truder had sent Lauder, he had taken advantage of the meeting to try to convince Abbas to return to the negotiating table with the US administration because "the agreement of the century" would be better than he thinks.
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