President Trump could recognize a Palestinian state this week, if rumours circulating in recent days prove to be true.
President Trump is set to visit the Middle East this week. The President is due to arrive in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, on Tuesday to meet the country’s de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Rumours have been circulating that he will make a big announcement and that it will concern official US recognition of a Palestinian state, which would mark a fundamental realignment of power in the Middle East and of the US’s relationship with Israel, which has come under significant strain in recent weeks over the possibility of military action against Iran.
A diplomatic source is quoted by The Jerusalem Post as saying, “President Donald Trump will issue a declaration regarding the State of Palestine and American recognition of it, and that there will be the establishment of a Palestinian state without the presence of Hamas.”
The source also added, “If an announcement of American recognition of the State of Palestine is made, it will be the most important declaration that will change the balance of power in the Middle East, and more countries will join the Abraham Accords.”
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee was quick to deny the rumours, saying Israel still has no better friend than the US.
Other diplomats have also poured cold water on the suggestion.
Ahmed Al-Ibrahim, a former Gulf diplomat, said, “I don’t expect it to be about Palestine. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan have not been invited. They are the two countries closest to Palestine, and it would be important for them to be present at any event like this.”
He added, “There will be major deals coming, perhaps similar to what happened at the 2017 Gulf-US summit, with Saudi deals worth more than $400 billion. Let’s not forget that the UAE announced investments in the US worth more than $1 trillion, and Saudi Arabia announced investments worth more than $600 billion.”
“This is clear because President Donald Trump intends to visit the UAE and Qatar after concluding his visit to Saudi Arabia. These are two important economies with significant financial resources and major investments in the United States.”
In January, Prince Mohammed said that Saudi Arabia would invest $600bn in the US over the coming years. President Trump has said he’d like that figure to rise to $1tn, including purchases of greater amounts of US military equipment.
In related news, representatives of the US and Iran completed a fourth round of talks aimed at curbing Teheran’s nuclear ambitions.
The talks took place in Muscat, the capital of Oman, over the weekend. They aim to limit Iran’s military nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of US restrictions which have crushed the Iranian economy.
President Trump has repeatedly assured Iran that if talks fail, military strikes to prevent further enrichment of uranium by Teheran will be an option. Israel has also threatened unilateral action of its own.
On Friday, Steve Witkoff spoke to Breitbart and said that all enrichment must cease.
“An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again,” Witkoff said.
“That’s our red line. No enrichment. That means dismantlement, it means no weaponization, and it means that Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan—those are their three enrichment facilities—have to be dismantled.”
Since the US backed out of President Obama’s nuclear deal in 2018, Iran has removed all limits on its program of enrichment and is now believed to be on the verge of having enriched uranium sufficiently to make a nuclear weapon.