\nAs many as seven Arab or Muslim countries are likely to follow the lead set by the UAE and Bahrain by signing agreements to normalize relations with Israel, according to Avi Berkowitz, special adviser to US President Donald Trump on Middle East negotiations.<\/p>\n
\nHe said that Arab and Muslim political and business leaders have been disappointed by the refusal of the Palestinian leadership to even discuss the \u201cPeace to Prosperity\u201d plan for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which was proposed last year by the Trump administration. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as \u201cthe deal of the century.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDuring an exclusive interview with Arab News on Tuesday, Berkowitz stressed that the door remains open to the Palestinians if they agree to negotiate, but Trump will seek alternatives if they refuse to engage.<\/p>\n
\nHe added the refusal by some Palestinian leaders to negotiate will no longer prevent other Arab and Muslim countries from pursuing peace with Israel, or deter the US from talking with other Palestinian community leaders and groups.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe can disagree about the details. We can sit around the table and negotiate them,\u201d Berkowitz said during the interview, which will be broadcast on Detroit radio station WNZK at 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cBut if you are unwilling to actually review the plan and think it through and explain why you think it is not acceptable, then we are not really talking \u2014 we are sort of talking past each other. And I think a lot of people in the region saw that and said \u2018we are no longer going to allow this to be a veto over our national interests.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBerkowitz said that while there is a seat at the table for the Palestinian leadership to discuss the Trump peace plan, in their absence talks are taking place with other Palestinian community and business leaders, although he did not name them.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe put out a plan and the plan calls for a realistic two-state solution,\u201d he said. \u201cIt calls for a Palestinian state with a capital in areas of East Jerusalem. It calls for free access to all people who come in peace to all of the holy sites, so that no one can say that in any way they are under siege. (It also offers) $50 billion in investments, as well as provisions for people who have been displaced: the refugee issue.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt undoubtedly is something that will make the lives of the Palestinian people better and will change the course of the region. And so when that was (announced) a lot of people saw that the Palestinians refused the plan prior to it even being published. They wouldn\u2019t even read it before rejecting it \u2014 and honestly, that is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBerkowitz said his own frustration with the situation \u201cpales in comparison\u201d to the frustration that can be heard in the voices of the Palestinian people about the actions of their leaders.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThey understand the current trajectory is a bad one and they constantly bring me fresh ideas,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\nArguing that the presence of Israel is a reality that the Palestinians must accept, Berkowitz said: \u201cWe\u2019re not going to allow that to be a veto over the project that we hope to make in the region going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHowever, he added that this does not mean that long-standing grievances and concerns will be ignored.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThis is not something that is being done at the exclusion of understanding the significance of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is a real issue. It is one that we intend to give as much attention as the Palestinian leadership is willing to engage us on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe agreement between the UAE and Israel was announced on Aug. 13. Bahrain announced a similar deal on Sept. 11. Both agreements, known as the Abraham Accords, were brokered by Trump. They were signed by the foreign ministers of the UAE and Bahrain and Netanyahu at the White House on Sept. 15.<\/p>\n
\nIn exchange for establishing full diplomatic and economic ties, Israel agreed to suspend its plans to annex large areas of the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Trump adviser predicts more Arab and Muslim countries will sign deals with Israel As many as seven Arab or Muslim countries are likely to follow the lead set by the UAE and Bahrain by signing agreements to normalize relations with Israel, according to Avi Berkowitz, special adviser to US President Donald Trump on Middle East…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43944\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}