In a three-page letter dated January 26, 2020, two days before Trump presented his Vision for Peace in the White House, he summarized some of its details. These included that Israel would be able to extend sovereignty to parts of the West Bank, as delineated in the map included in the plan if Netanyahu agreed to a Palestinian state in the remaining territory on that map.
Trump asked Netanyahu to adopt “the policies outlined in... the Vision [for peace] regarding those territories of the West Bank identified as becoming part of a future Palestinian state.”
In exchange for Israel implementing these policies, the US president continued, and formally adopted detailed territorial plans not inconsistent with the Conceptual Map. The letter did not delineate a timeline for sovereignty recognition.
Netanyahu’s response said that Israel would move forward with sovereignty plans in the coming days.
The letter calls into question the narrative set out in Breaking History: A White House Memoir, a new book by Trump's son-in-law and former senior adviser Jared Kushner.
In it, Kushner asserts that former US ambassador to Israel David Friedman went behind his and the president’s back and assured Bibi that he would get the White House to support annexation more immediately.
Friedman and Netanyahu viewed the matter differently, Netanyahu’s spokesman said, “The charge that Netanyahu surprised the president and his staff with an uncoordinated announcement... is utterly baseless.”
Trump's Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt said that during his time in the White House, he always understood from former Prime Minister Netanyahu that US recognition of the extension of Israel’s sovereignty over those areas intended to be part of Israel contemplated by the peace plan released by President Trump was necessary for Netanyahu to agree to our proposed peace plan.
David Friedman was part of most, perhaps all, of those discussions and I believe he understood that clearly as well. I was no longer working at the White House at the time the peace plan was released.
A Trump administration source closely involved with the president's letter said, "It was a key part of Israel's acceptance of the Vision for Peace as the framework for negotiations with the Palestinians for America to accept sovereignty up front, as per the mapping process and the plan, and for all the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley to be included.
Trump said in his speech – which Kushner said he read and reviewed with the president before delivery, “The United States will recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory that my vision provides to be part of the State of Israel.
Trump said Israel and the US would work together to convert the conceptual map into a more detailed and calibrated rendering so that recognition can be immediately achieved.
“We will also work to create a contiguous territory within the future Palestinian state for when the conditions for statehood are met, including the firm rejection of terrorism,” Trump said.
“You are recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over all the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, large and small alike,” he said. “Mr. President, because of this historic recognition, and because I believe your peace plan strikes the right balance where other plans have failed, I’ve agreed to negotiate peace with the Palestinians on the basis of your peace plan.
“Israel wants the Palestinians... to have a future of national dignity, prosperity, and hope. Your peace plan offers the Palestinians such a future. Your peace plan offers the Palestinians a pathway to a future state,” Netanyahu said.
“Israel wants the Palestinians... to have a future of national dignity, prosperity, and hope. Your peace plan offers the Palestinians such a future. Your peace plan offers the Palestinians a pathway to a future state.”
The prime minister also said, “We looks forward to working with you to achieve a peace that will protect Israel’s security, provide the Palestinians with dignity and their own national life, and improve Israel’s relations with the Arab world.”
Immediately after the speeches, Netanyahu said he would bring the extension of Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank to a cabinet vote the following week. Then-ambassador to Israel David Friedman told the media that Israel could start work toward annexation the moment it completed its internal process.
In Friedman’s book, Sledgehammer, released earlier this year, the ambassador wrote that the Trump administration did not know that Netanyahu already had the Jordan Valley mapped out for annexation. Netanyahu’s spokesman said, the prime minister’s letter to Trump in advance of the White House event specified that he would move forward in a matter of days.
The Trump administration source involved with the letter said that the dispute was only whether sovereignty moves could be made within a few days or weeks. Kushner himself told journalists at the UN days after the plan was presented that the mapping teams will take a couple of months before annexation moves forward.
Kushner also repeatedly claimed in the book that he struggled to convince Bibi, a master negotiator, to agree to a compromise that would give tangible life improvements to the Palestinians."
In contrast, Netanyahu conceded that a Palestinian state would be established. In addition, Friedman said Netanyahu agreed not to allow Israeli construction in the areas earmarked for the Palestinians in the plan's map.
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