Saudi Arabia rejects US-proposed “Deal of the Century”
(Baonghean.vn) - Israel's Haaretz newspaper on August 1 revealed a letter sent by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz to the White House, in which Saudi Arabia expressed its rejection of US President Donald Trump's peace plan.
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| US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz. Photo: Internet |
In an article, Haaretz said: “Saudi Arabia has informed the administration of US President Donald Trump that it will not be able to support the peace plan between Israel and Palestine, which the media calls the “Deal of the Century,” if the agreement does not mention that East Jerusalem is the capital of a Palestinian state.”
Haaretz quoted two diplomats involved in the peace plan negotiations as saying: “King Salman bin Abdulaziz expressed his support for the Palestinian position and assured Arab leaders that the kingdom remains committed to the 2002 Arab peace initiative, which stipulates the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
The Saudi King has expressed this stance in recent phone calls with senior US officials, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other Arab leaders, the newspaper explained.
According to the same source, King Salman also issued an urgent order to allocate 80 million USD to the Palestinian Authority to compensate for losses when the US cut off aid.
Haaretz quoted an unnamed diplomatic source as saying: “Saudi Arabia’s change of stance on the peace plan is due to Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the relocation of the US embassy there.” The source added: “Saudi Arabia has informed the US administration: ‘We are currently unable to implement what we promised before the US decision on Jerusalem.’”
The newspaper pointed out that “Egypt and Jordan have urged the US administration to propose a peace plan if it wants to be fair to the Palestinian side.” The source added that Jordan has warned the Trump administration that any plan that favors Israel would cause trouble in Jordan, forcing Oman to reject the proposal.
Reuters news agency also revealed this view for the first time on July 29, when quoting a senior Arab diplomat in Riyadh saying: "The US made a mistake in believing that one country can pressure the rest to submit, but this is not a matter of pressure. No Arab leader can abandon Jerusalem or the Palestinian people."
