Donald Trump Heads to Israel as Part of His Foreign Trip
Donald Trump, continuing his foreign trip in his capacity as President of the United States, will meet with the Prime Minister of Israel and the head of the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Reports indicate that one of the most important objectives of this trip is a fresh effort by Washington to revive peace negotiations.
Reuters reports that over the next two days, the President of the United States will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority. Meetings that are seen as an effort to revive the peace process between Israel and Palestinians.
The Associated Press reports that Mr. Trump is heading to Israel while having said that resolving the crisis between the two sides “may not be as difficult as people think.”
The efforts of previous U.S. administrations have not led anywhere, and while the formation of an independent Palestinian state, as Washington has emphasized in recent years, has not materialized, at the same time new settlement plans, Palestinian attacks on Israeli citizens and security forces, and mutual clashes have continued.
In March last, Trump said in a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, “Honestly, I think [achieving peace] may not be as difficult as people think.”
However, the Associated Press says advisors to the President of the United States have sought to describe Trump’s trip more as a symbolic visit rather than calling it a significant and practical step toward peace.
Reuters also reports that the President of the United States said he will do whatever is necessary to create peace, but in reality there are few signs of the likelihood of reviving peace negotiations, which are currently stalled.
Trump, on his first foreign trip as President of the United States, met on Saturday and Sunday in Riyadh with the King of Saudi Arabia and leaders of dozens of Islamic countries.
In his speech on May 20, he strongly attacked Tehran’s policies and described the Iranian government as one that “provides a safe haven to terrorists, finances their support, and is responsible for instability in the region.”
At the same time, Mr. Trump and Salman, the King of Saudi Arabia, signed a military deal worth 110 billion dollars on Saturday. An agreement whose purpose Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared as supporting Riyadh. According to Tillerson, this support is “particularly necessary against the harmful influence of Iran and Iranian threats in Saudi Arabia’s border regions.”
However, this agreement has sparked reactions in Israel; the country’s Energy Minister, on the eve of the American President’s trip, expressed “concern” about the “major arms deal” of the United States with Saudi Arabia and called it “troubling” for Israel.
While Israel’s Prime Minister has repeatedly described Iran as a “major threat” to his country and “world order,” his cabinet minister on May 20 also named Saudi Arabia as an “enemy” of Israel and said that “the presence of the most advanced American weapons” there is a cause for concern.
Mr. Trump’s trip, after Israel, will continue with a departure to the Vatican, meetings with leaders of the world’s seven largest economies in Sicily, Italy, and participation in a NATO summit in Brussels.
Source: Radio Farda
