Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ to be revealed after Ramadan

Jared Kushner gave an update about the Deal of the Century [Getty]

Date of publication: 23 April, 2019. The New Arab

US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner announced on Tuesday that he would present his long-awaited Middle East peace plan after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends in early June.

Kushner, speaking at a forum of Time magazine, said he had hoped to offer the proposal late last year but that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu then called elections and still needs time to form a coalition.

“Once that’s done we’ll probably be in the middle of Ramadan, so we’ll wait until after Ramadan and then we’ll put our plan out,” said Kushner, a senior advisor to Trump.

Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century” seeks to find a solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but most believe it will heavily favour Israel with unconfirmed reports suggesting it will not include an independent Palestinian state.

Trump has been pushing a hard-line policy that favours Israel. Last May, Trump recognised the divided city of Jerusalem as the Israel’s capital – something that was condemned by most countries in the world – while he also acknowledged Israel’s illegal claims to the Syrian Golan Heights territories.

Kushner has steadily pushed forward with the plan, travelling across the Middle East to garner support for key features of the deal. 

He has close ties with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the UAE de-facto ruler Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who have pushed both their countries closer to Israel.