US official tells Arutz Sheva that the election results have changed the picture and peace plan won’t be published any time soon.
In the weeks before the elections, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other senior officials estimated that the so-called “Deal of the Century”, as the US peace plan for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) has come to be known, will be published very close to election day.
A senior US official told Arutz Sheva on Sunday, however, that the results of the election and the uncertainty they have created in Israel will cause a significant delay in the publication of the plan.
“There is a different situation here and there may be a fundamentally different government than the one we have been working with in recent years. There is also no certainty that the Prime Minister will be the same person who is currently in office. Therefore, further examination of the situation will be required and the publication of the peace plan will be significantly delayed,” said the senior official.
The official declined to set a date, but said the plan would not be published within a matter of weeks and also predicted it would not happen in 2019.
The US Special Envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt, who recently announced he would be stepping down, has been in Israel for the past few days. He already met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday and on Sunday met with President Reuven Rivlin.
A meeting between Greenblatt and Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz could take place on Monday, but has not yet been finalized.
In closed meetings, Greenblatt estimated that the political situation in Israel would force the administration to rethink whether the plan as it has been formulated so far is appropriate under the new circumstances.
Greenblatt recently said that if he recognizes that it is possible to publish the plan soon and obtain Palestinian consent to discuss it, he may remain in office for some time. For now, Greenblatt’s current visit seems to be mainly intended for summaries and not for new beginnings.
The way things are going, perhaps they should rename it “The Deal of the Next Century”.