Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday he saw no pressing need for US President Donald Trump to unveil his long-awaited Middle East peace plan.
“It’s his issue if he wants to promote it,” Netanyahu told reporters during his ongoing visit to Lithuania. “From time to time he says things about it, and it can come, even though I don’t see urgency in this matter.”
Questioned about the Palestinians’ refusal to engage with the Trump administration on the peace issue, Netanyahu stated, “The Americans are thinking about it, they’re not blind, but I don’t know — when they propose it, we’ll see.”
Trump has spoken a number of times of his desire to broker the “deal of the century” between Israel and the Palestinians.
Earlier this week, at a rally in West Virginia, the president saidIsrael would have to pay a “higher price” in peace talks with the Palestinians due to America’s recognition of Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital last year.
“If there’s ever going to be peace with the Palestinians, then this was a good thing to have done,” Trump said of the recognition move. “We took it off the table. In past negotiations, they never got past Jerusalem. Now Israel will have to pay a higher price because it’s off the table. The Palestinians will get something very good because it’s their turn next.”
Also this week, it was reported Trump planned to present his peace plan at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York next month.
