Leaked Pompeo tape adds to growing doubts over Trump’s ‘deal of century’ for Middle East

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly admitted that many have doubts over the US peace plan for the Middle East and it may fail. The “deal of the century” was already rejected by Palestine and earned skepticism from the EU.

The Middle East peace plan, brokered by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, has been in development for two years and is yet to be unveiled publicly. However, scarce parts of the “deal of the century,” as Trump once dubbed it, that were leaked to the press cast doubts on whether it will succeed.

Pompeo reportedly acknowledged this sober fact last week while speaking to Jewish leaders in New York. He had said that he understands the “perception” of the plan as “a deal that only the Israelis could love,” the Washington Post wrote on Monday, citing a recording of the meeting. Pompeo even admitted that some may deem the plan “unexecutable,” and “it may be rejected.”

Pompeo’s words hardly come as surprising, considering that the US-pushed plan allegedly allows Tel Aviv to establish control over Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which remain illegal under international law. That is precisely what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised during his re-election campaign in April and what the Palestinians vehemently reject. “We will never accept that,” Palestinian envoy to Russia, Abdelhafiz Nofal, said last week.

Palestine’s foreign minister branded the plan “a surrender act.” The head of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, put it even more bluntly, saying that, “Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ will go to hell.” On top of that, Palestinian officials announced that they will be skipping a US-sponsored event in Bahrain in June, where the economic part of the peace plan is expected to be revealed.

It is not just the Palestinians, however, who are giving Trump’s plan the cold shoulder. The EU has always been an ardent supporter of the two-state solution, with independent and sovereign Palestine. Abandoning this formula will “bring greater chaos” to the region, as the EU foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, warned in April.

At the same time, Trump’s plan reportedly offers to split the West Bank between Palestine and Israel, with Israel keeping the whole of Jerusalem and Palestinians having no control over their borders. This has fueled concerns among Europeans that the plan is heavily skewed in favor of Tel Aviv and, therefore, is unlikely to work.

This message was eloquently conveyed by the French envoy to the US, Gerard Araud. “It will be a proposal very close to what the Israelis want. Is it doomed to fail? I should say 99 percent yes, but 1 percent, you never forget the 1 percent,” he told the Atlantic last month.

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