Palestinian leaders reject Trump pledge to give them something ‘very good’

Palestinian leaders on Wednesday rejected overtures by US President Donald Trump after he said they would get something “very good” in exchange for his country recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Senior Palestinian official Ahmad al-Tamimi said the US president’s assertion that he had removed Jerusalem from future negotiations was “a continuation of the US policies in favor of Israel.” Speaking to Palestinian news agency WAFA, he added that Trump’s push for the Israeli-Palestinian peace deal was impossible without “recognizing east Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state.” Speaking in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning, Trump’s National Security advisor John Bolton said he hoped the Palestinian leadership would move on from the embassy issue, AFP reports. Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization Saeb Erekat rejected Bolton’s comments, saying that east Jerusalem must be the capital of a Palestinian state.