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Former IDF chief warns US of eruption in West Bank
Former Israeli Chief of Staff Lt-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot warned the Trump administration about the “sensitive and explosive” situation in the West Bank ahead of the release of Washington’s plan to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks.
According to a report in Axios, the warning was given last Tuesday in Washington at a meeting between President Donald Trump’s special envoy Jason Greenblatt and 10 Middle East experts who were involved in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations.
Eisenkot reportedly told Greenblatt that the situation in the West Bank is “sensitive and explosive” and that it could “erupt before, during or after you present your peace plan, and you should add this to your calculations. Once this genie is out of the bottle, it will take five years to put it back in,” he added.
Eisenkot also argued that the US should promote steps on the ground that will de-escalate the situation so that it will be “a win-win for both sides.”
Greenblatt told Fox News on Saturday that the long-awaited US plan will not compromise on Israel’s security. He said reports claiming that the plan was only an economic one were false. He said: “It’s both political and economic. Once everyone has read and given their thoughts on it, there is still a long way to go before a final signing agreement, and that will be up to the parties themselves to negotiate.”
He added: “It’s terribly frustrating for ordinary Palestinians. I meet with them frequently, and this is the message they tell me. They understand they may not like aspects of the plan but are upset that their leaders are saying they won’t even take a look at it. I feel terrible for the Palestinian people.”
A report on Israel’s Channel 12 news on Sunday night claimed that the US plan will suggest that all settlements in the West Bank “remain in Israeli hands under a permanent accord,” and that the Trump administration would not object to the “extension of Israeli law” to the settlements but will not support a plan for Israel to formally annex the territory. Channel 12 also reported that the Trump plan will propose that major Palestinian cities and population centres in the West Bank remain under Palestinian control.