PA: Palestinians can make Trump’s promises ‘part of the past’

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday that the Palestinians are able to make former US President Donald Trump’s promises to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “part of the past”. Shtayyeh was commenting on the content of a letter revealed by the Jerusalem Post in which Trump promised Netanyahu that he would approve Israel’s illegal annexation of Palestinian land.

“Israel would be able to extend sovereignty to parts of the West Bank if Netanyahu agreed to a Palestinian state in the remaining territory,” the Jerusalem Post reported Trump as saying in a three-page letter dated 26 January 2020.

According to Shtayyeh, though, “Our people undermined the ‘Deal of the Century’ and can make these promises part of the past.”

Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century” referred to Jerusalem as “Israel’s undivided capital” and recognised Israeli sovereignty over large parts of the occupied West Bank. Palestinian officials said that under the US plan Israel would annex 30-40 per cent of the West Bank, including all of East Jerusalem.

Under international pressure, Netanyahu didn’t announce his annexation plan as scheduled in July 2020. However, he said that he had only “delayed” the process, not cancelled it.

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