Trump releases Mideast Peace Plan that strongly favors Israel
NY Times

“President Trump on Tuesday unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan with a flourish, releasing a proposal that would give Israel most of what it has sought over decades of conflict while offering the Palestinians the possibility of a state with limited sovereignty. Mr. Trump’s plan would guarantee that Israel would control a unified Jerusalem as its capital and not require it to uproot any of the settlements in the West Bank that have provoked Palestinian outrage and alienated much of the world. Mr. Trump promised to provide $50 billion in international investment to build the new Palestinian entity and open an embassy in its new state.” 

Image: President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiling the Middle East plan at the White House on Tuesday, January 28, 2020. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

Trump’s ‘peace plan’ aims to bury the two-state solution
MEI

“The Trump administration is finally gearing up to release its much-touted and long-delayed plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace. The official rollout of Donald Trump’s so-called ‘deal of the century’ is expected to take place on Jan. 28, with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz scheduled to attend the unveiling in Washington. Palestinian leaders, who have already rejected the plan ex ante, were not invited. According to Israeli press reports, the plan is expected to satisfy a long list of right-wing Israeli demands on various core issues of the conflict — from Jerusalem to settlements to the fate of Palestinian refugees. Yet while it will be interesting to see what the plan ultimately does or does not contain, the details hardly matter since we already have a fairly clear picture of the Trump vision.”

Image: Barrier wall in the West Bank/East Jerusalem. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu: Palestinians must take first step on 'Deal of the Century'
J-Post

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday afternoon on Fox and Friends on Fox News, explaining that ‘we have a way to get’ to peace, but ‘the Palestinians should take the first step’ in US President Donald Trump's ‘Deal of the Century’. He explained that the Palestinian people ‘must be given a vision, which I think is what the president did. Once we define the direction... I think we can get there.’ ‘Getting Hamas out of Gaza isn't going to be easy,’ he continued. ‘Assuming we have a peace agreement, then the two parts of where the Palestinians [live] will be connected. We have a way to get there, but the Palestinians should take the first step.’” 

Image: US President Donald Trump welcomes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Democrats offer mixed reactions to Trump's Mideast peace plan
The Hill

“Congressional Democrats offered varying responses Tuesday to President Trump’s Middle East peace plan, ranging from cautious optimism to outright rejection. On one end, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the Trump administration’s proposed resolution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict provides some areas of ‘common ground’ for Democrats to get behind and support. ‘If there’s a possibility for peace, we want to give it a chance,’ Pelosi said following the president’s unveiling of the plan at the White House alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.” 

Image: US President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

Arab League, Turkey condemn Trump's plan for legitimizing Israeli occupation
Haaretz

“Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Wednesday that the first reading of U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan indicates a great waste of legitimate rights of Palestinians. However, the Arab League is ‘studying the American vision carefully. We are open to any serious effort made to achieve peace,’ he said. Furthermore, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserted that the plan ‘will not serve peace and resolution’ in the region. ‘This is a plan to ignore the rights of the Palestinians and legitimize Israel's occupation,’ Erdogan tells reporters on his plane returning from a trip to Senegal, according to state news agency Anadolu."

Image: An Israeli soldier kicks a Palestinian flag during a protest against the U.S. president Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, in Jordan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 29, 2020. (Mohamad Torokman/ REUTERS)

Netanyahu indicted for corruption in three cases, in first for a sitting PM
Times of Israel

“Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Tuesday filed the indictment against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust with the Jerusalem District Court. ‘The indictment was filed a short time ago… as is required by law,’ Mandelblit’s office said. The move marks the first time in Israel’s history that a serving prime minister will face criminal charges, casting a heavy shadow over Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, his legacy and his ongoing attempts to remain in power. Responding to Mandelblit’s decision, ‘sources close to the prime minister’ accused the attorney general of conducting a witch hunt against Netanyahu, a Likud spokesperson said in a statement.”

Image: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and then-cabinet secretary Avichai Mandelblit at a weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office, in Jerusalem on February 2, 2014. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)