President Trump will pressure Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to stop paying blood money to Palestinian terrorists and their families. According to a report by Haaretz, Trump will also ask Abbas to renew his commitment to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Abbas arrived in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. He plans on staying three days at the U.S. capitol before taking Trump’s requests back to the West Bank.
During his visit, Abbas will meet with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in addition to a high-ranking senators and congressmen.
Abbas will also meet with J-Street President Jeremy Ben Ami after his meeting with Trump. This isn’t the first time Abbas has met with the anti-Israel lobbyist and it likely won’t be his last. J-Street is notorious for its aggressive lobbying efforts against the Jewish State, invoking slanderous language to demonize the sole bastion of the Jewish people.
Hi @benjycannon, I wish to reiterate my earlier point. Your employers REALLY suck at hiding their anti-Israelism. https://t.co/dUoivv1jqk
— Elliott Hamilton (@ElliottRHams) May 2, 2017
For its part, the Palestinian delegation has signaled that it would work toward a peace agreement based on the preconditions of hostile Arab states.
“The Palestinians have expressed optimism ahead of the meeting. Abbas’ spokesman, Nabil Abu-Rudeineh, said the Palestinian president would stress the need for advancing a process based on a two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative, the 2002 proposal that was ratified once again at the Arab League summit in late March,” reports Haaretz.
During the presidential campaign, Trump touted his ability to negotiate complex and difficult “deals.” Successive U.S. administrations have attempted to negotiate a deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
All have failed.