MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : TODAYS ANALYSIS  / SOURCESMonday, June 3, 2019 – Pompeo & Trump Skeptical of Middle East Peace Plan

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly acknowledged skepticism of the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan, delivering a sobering assessment of its prospects in a closed-door meeting with Jewish leaders, based on an audio recording of the private meeting obtained by the Washington Post. In a meeting Tuesday with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Pompeo reportedly said that “one might argue” that the plan is “unexecutable” and it might not “gain traction.” He also expressed his hope that the deal isn’t simply dismissed out of hand. “It may be rejected. Could be in the end, folks will say, ‘It’s not particularly original, it doesn’t particularly work for me,’ that is, ‘It’s got two good things and nine bad things, I’m out,’ ” Pompeo said. “The big question is can we get enough space that we can have a real conversation about how to build this out,” he said.

President Donald Trump, when asked Sunday about Pompeo’s comments, said, “Well, let’s see what happens… We’re doing our best to help the Middle East to get a peace plan, and (Pompeo) may be right, I think most people would say that. I think we have a good chance, but we’ll see what happens.” The State Department’s special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, Elan Carr, who also attended the meeting, said he thought Pompeo “provided a hopeful assessment over the prospect of a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians,” according to the Post. Malcolm Hoenlein, the president of the organization that hosted the meeting, told CNN he and other participants did not take Pompeo’s remarks as critical of the prospects of the peace plan. White House senior adviser Jared Kushner is expected to discuss the economic portion of the proposed Middle East peace plan at a conference in Bahrain this month. Washington Post, CNN

Related:

New York Times: Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan Faces a Crossroads After Coalition Talks in Israel Crumble

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