The US and Saudi Arabia held secret meetings to declare Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and to offer Abu Dis as Palestine’s capital
Tensions flare as the U.S’s “peace plan” for the city of Jerusalem led by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner’s emerge.
In return for the U.S. recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, the city of Abu Dis, a suburb of East Jerusalem, has been allegedly offered as the new Palestinian capital, according to reports by the New York Times and the Jerusalem Post.
Kushner reportedly convinced Saudi’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of this plan during his secret visit to Riyadh during late October.
After his meeting with Kushner, Crown Prince Salman presented this plan to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during the president’s visit to Riyadh last month, where he went to discuss President Trump’s plans for the Middle East. Trump is planning to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on Wednesday, according to top U.S. officials.
Salman, who approved Kushner’s plan, told Abbas he had two months to accept the deal of accepting Abu Dis as the Palestinian capital, to or he would be pressured to resign. Moreover, Palestinian refugees who left Israel after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and their descendants would not be granted the right to return to Israel as part of the plan.
Although Saudi and Palestinian administrations denied that the plan was addressed in the Abbas-Salman meeting, it is already being discussed in the Arab world.
Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. It later annexed it, declaring the whole of the city as its capital, a move not recognized internationally.
Palestinian sources say Trump “informed the president on his intention to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” in a phone call with President Abbas on Tuesday.
After Abbas, Trump also spoke with Jordanian King Abdullah II and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone.
A statement made by Jordan’s palace stated that King Abdullah warned Trump that taking a decision outside the framework of the United Nations would have “dangerous repercussions for the stability and security of the region.”
Israeli Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said in the aftermath of the Trump-Netanhayu meeting that his “impression is that the President [Trump] will recognize Jerusalem” as the Israeli capital.
Trump’s step to move the embassy to Jerusalem will cause a huge reaction in the Arab world, according to the Palestinian media.
Rassem Obaidat, a Palestinian journalist known for his close relations with the Fatah movement, said the U.S. move is “a declaration of war on the Palestinian people.”
He said this step will deepen “hostile” attitude the United States has regarding the fundamental rights of the Palestinians.
Talal Awkal, a columnist at Al Ayyam, a newspaper close to Fatah, wrote that if such a step is taken “the United States will revert to its position as the sworn enemy of the Palestinians, and the Arab and Muslim world”.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee member Zakaria al-Agha said in a statement that if such step is taken by the U.S., this will mean “declaring war on the Arab and Muslim world.” Al-Agha stated that it will also mean the termination of the peace process and the end of the U.S. role in the settlement of the Arab-Israel conflict.
Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. It later annexed it, declaring the whole of the city as its capital, a move not recognized internationally.
Jerusalem is sacred to both Muslims and Jews, as it includes sites known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (The Noble Sanctuary), al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the rock, as well as an ancient Jewish temple.
