Trump’s Peace Plan Reported: Four Neighborhoods in Jerusalem as PA Capital

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/01/25/john-kerry-reportedly-coaches-palestinians-not-to-yield-to-trump-in-peace-talks-spurring-backlash.html
John Kerry reportedly coaches Palestinians not to 'yield' to Trump in peace talks, spurring backlash
Brooke Singman By Brooke Singman | Fox News
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 The former Secretary of State and presidential candidate reportedly told Palestinian leader Mahmooud Abbas' aide to stand his ground in talks with the US
The former Secretary of State and presidential candidate reportedly told Palestinian leader Mahmooud Abbas' aide to stand his ground in talks with the US  (Getty Images)

Former Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly tried to meddle in Middle East peace talks, allegedly telling a close associate of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas not to “yield to President Trump’s demands.” 

Israeli news outlet Maariv reported on the apparent meeting between Kerry and Hussein Agha in London, where the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee also reportedly floated a possible encore bid in 2020.  

But in the conversation, Kerry reportedly told Agha to share a message with Abbas – urging him to “hold on and be strong” during talks with the Trump administration and “play for time ... [and] not yield to President Trump’s demands.”

Kerry, who served as former President Barack Obama’s secretary of state during his second term, also reportedly told Agha that Trump would not be in office for long, suggesting he could be out in a year. 

CORRECTS DESCRIPTION OF VISIT - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas listens to a speaker during his visit to the Centre for Development of Advance Computing in Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Monday, May 15, 2017. Abbas is on a four-day visit to India. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
John Kerry reportedly gave advice to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in peace talks.  (AP)

According to the report, Kerry used derogatory terms when referring to Trump, and offered to help the Palestinians create an alternative peace initiative. He reportedly asked Abbas not to attack the U.S. or the Trump administration, but rather focus attacks on the president himself.

PEACE BETWEEN PALESTINIANS AND ISRAEL 'MORE POSSIBLE' AFTER JERUSALEM MOVE, PENCE SAYS 

One prominent Trump ally, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, voiced disbelief at the reported comments on Thursday.

“Kerry knows as a former secretary of state, a former U.S. senator, that kind of advice would be stunningly unpatriotic, and I don’t think John Kerry would do something like that,” Gingrich told "Fox & Friends." “I hope he wouldn’t. I would be very, very surprised if a former secretary of state, a former U.S. senator would have said anything that was that overtly anti-American.”

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment on Kerry’s alleged remarks.

The State Department told Fox News they would decline to comment. 

It’s unclear whether Abbas plans to take Kerry’s advice – but the Palestinian leader already has drawn the scorn of the Trump administration. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley used a U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday to slam Abbas over recent remarks he gave in which he allegedly rejected any U.S. role in peace talks. “We will not chase after a Palestinian leadership that lacks what’s needed to achieve peace,” she said. 

Kerry’s meeting with Palestinian Authority representatives comes just one month after the Trump administration decided, after years of U.S. promises, to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Vice President Pence this week said that peace between Israel and the Palestinians is more likely following the decision, and noted that the State Department would begin the process of moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Pence said Monday that the embassy would open next year, ahead of schedule.

The vice president sits down for an exclusive interview with 'Fox News @ Night.'Video
Pence: 'Peace is now more possible' after Jerusalem decision
This week, Pence also fired back against accusations that the controversial announcement made the peace process impossible and breached the trust with the Palestinian leadership.

“The truth is, the Palestinians walked away from negotiations for peace with Israel since 2014. It’s time for the Palestinians to come back to the table,” Pence told Fox News this week. “The reality is President Trump made a promise to the American people and he kept that promise in recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”

Pence added: “We’ve made no determination on the final status of boundaries of any peace agreement and if both sides come together and agree, we’ll accept a two-state solution.” 

According to Israeli media, Arab leaders in Davos have expressed hope they could resume peace talks, despite the Jerusalem controversy.

Trump’s Peace Plan Reported: Four Neighborhoods in Jerusalem as PA Capital
https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/107093/trumps-peace-plan-reported-four-neighborhoods-in-jerusalem-as-pa-capital/
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz May 4, 2018 , 12:18 pm
“When Hashem is pleased with a man’s conduct, He may turn even his enemies into allies.” Proverbs 16:7 (The Israel Bible)
Stone throwing Palestinians clash with Israeli troops in the East Jerusalem Arab neighborhood of Issawiya on the 63rd anniversary of Naka (catastrophe in Arabic), the term Arabs use to describe the uprooting of thousands of Palestinians with the 1948 creation of the state of Israel. May 15, 2011. Photo by Nati Shohat/FLASH90
On Friday morning it was reported that US President Trump’s plan for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) was revealed to Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman during his visit to Washington last week. According to the report, Israel will be called upon to relinquish four sections of Jerusalem that will serve as the capital of a newly formed Palestinian state.

In its initial stages, the presidential peace plan will require Israel to secede from Jebl Mukabar, Isawiya, Shuafat and Abu Dis, Arab majority sections of Jerusalem. Maariv, a Hebrew language news service, reported on the newly revealed plan, saying that “it can be assumed that the transfer of these neighborhoods is the first stage in turning East Jerusalem into the capital [of the PA]. According to the report, the plan does not include the Old City-which will be recognized as an international territory.”

It has already been reported that the agreement will include total US support for Israel in anything concerning the Iranian nuclear weapons program. The US will also support Israel in the international forum should Israel decide to act directly against Iran. The US support in will include substantial military aid, including advanced weaponry, should a conflict break out with Syria or Iran, even if the conflict is initiated by Israel.

Liberman’s office refused to comment on the meetings to Maariv and US officials categorically denied the report to the Jerusalem Post.

Angered over US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, PA officials have refused to meet with US representatives who have come to the region in recent months. Last month, President Mahmoud Abbas said the PA will not accept any US peace plan.

“We honestly will not wait for anything from them, and we will not accept anything from them,” Abbas said at a conference in Ramallah last month.

The full peace plan is expected to be revealed after the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem on May 14.