Trump Heads to Wary Israel in Search of the ‘Ultimate Deal’
President Donald Trump will arrive in Israel Monday for the second leg of his inaugural foreign trip as chief executive facing several obstacles as he strives for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal that has eluded so many of his predecessors.
Trump’s two-day visit will include meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as visits to the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem and the Western Wall, an important Jewish holy site.
On the eve of Trump’s visit, Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet approved several confidence-building measures, including construction permits for Palestinians near their cities in parts of the West Bank that had previously been off limits, a senior official told the Associated Press. Under interim agreements, 60 percent of the West Bank, known as Area C, site of Israel’s settlements, is under Israeli control and Palestinian development there has mostly been forbidden by Israel.
Speaking on condition of anonymity in line with protocol, the official said the package also includes economic concessions and opening the border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan. (Read more from “Trump Heads to Wary Israel in Search of the ‘Ultimate Deal'” HERE)
Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.
