Global Geopolitical Series: Saudi Arabia reportedly opposing Trump’s ‘deal of the century’

According to Middle East newspaper Haaretz, Saudi Arabia has announced its opposition to President Trump’s ‘deal of the century’, calling for making the terms sweeter for the Palestinians in a letter to the White House. Throughout his campaign and Presidency, President Trump said that the most difficult of all the agreements would be the one between Israelis and Palestinians and if he can achieve an agreement, it would be the ‘deal of the century’.

As part of his deal of the century, President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. While Trump claimed that he has smoothened the passage for an agreement by removing the most difficult and sticking point, which was Jerusalem, his move infuriated the Palestinian leadership, who has since refused to be any part of President Trump’s peace plan.

According to Haaretz, “Saudi Arabia has informed US President Donald Trump’s administration that it will not be able to support its peace plan between Israel and Palestine, known in the media as the ‘Deal of the Century’, if it does not state that East Jerusalem would be the capital of the Palestinian state…….Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz expressed his support for the Palestinian position and assured Arab leaders that the kingdom is still committed to the 2002 Arab peace initiative, which stipulates the establishment of a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Egypt and Jordan also reportedly called on the Trump administration to propose a peace plan that would be fair to the Palestinians as any bias towards Israel would stir domestic trouble.