US President Donald Trump has acknowledged that his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s doubts about his so-called deal of century “may be right.”
“Look, we’re doing our best to help the Middle East to get a peace plan, and he [Pompeo] may be right. I mean, most people would say that,” Trump told reporters in Washington, DC, Sunday evening. “But if we can get a Mid-East peace plan that would be good. And when Mike says that, I understand when he says that, because most people think it can’t be done. I think it probably can. But as I say often, we’ll see what happens.”
According to an audio recording of a private meeting between Pompeo and Israelis obtained by The Washington Post, the US top diplomat is heard suggesting that the plan is “unexecutable” and it might not “gain traction.”
“It may be rejected. Could be in the end, folks will say, ‘It’s not particularly original, it doesn’t particularly work for me,’ that is, ‘It’s got two good things and nine bad things, I’m out,’ ” said the former CIA chief. “The big question is can we get enough space that we can have a real conversation about how to build this out.”
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has said that the deal would be unveiled at the conclusion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formed a new administration in the wake of reelection.
The timeline could change as the Israeli parliament (Knesset) voted to dissolve last week, forcing the premier to runs for the post in a second election this year.
“I mean, Bibi got elected, and now all of a sudden they’re going to have to go through the process again until September?” Trump asked. “That’s ridiculous. So we’re not happy about that.”
The economic portion of the so-called deal of the century is set to be unveiled during a conference in Manama, Bahrain, on June 25-26.
All Palestinian factions have boycotted the event, accusing Washington of offering financial rewards for accepting the Israeli occupation.
Source: Agecnies
