A senior Israeli official warned that the Palestinian response to the US peace plan in the Middle East would stir mass protests that would be counterproductive and lead to a deterioration in the region’s security situation.
Instead of reaching peace, the Deal of the Century would cause war, the unidentified official stressed.
In his remarks to the press in Tel Aviv on Friday, the official said the US administration disregarded warnings by Israeli and Arab officials and experts regarding its plan.
“In case of failure, the Americans don’t have an alternative plan,” said the official. “So, the obvious result would be a total collapse, the return to a political vacuum, a deep economic crisis in the West Bank and Gaza, and an armed confrontation.”
His comments came as a response to remarks made by a US official on the Deal.
Military analyst at Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper Alex Fishman quoted the official as saying that after the plan’s announcement, all Palestinian families will be able to sit around the dinner table, read it with their children and see to what extent it could be adopted.
“They will exert pressure on Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) to change his position and support the plan,” the US official naively added.
The Israeli official expressed surprise at the remarks, especially that the US official constantly visits the Middle East since President Donald Trump came to power in January 2017.
The US official’s optimism emanates from the simplicity of the plan’s clauses, which according to the Israeli official do not include complicated legal terminologies for the sole purpose of convincing the Palestinian public on the importance of its adoption, such as providing them with work, money, freedom of movement and certain extent of sovereignty.
According to Fishman, the Israeli official said that when a naive person and an amateur meet, they create a disaster, adding that Trump’s plan could worsen tension between Israel and Palestinians.
