Herzog on Secret Peace Summit: Netanyahu Ran Away From Historic Opportunity

Netanyahu participated in this secret meeting on February 21, 2016 in Aqaba, Jordan, with King Abdullah II of Jordan and President el-Sissi of Egypt, former US officials told the AP.

On Thursday, however, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the United States still supports a two-state solution.

“Egypt’s historical stance regarding Palestine does not go in line with the false information circulated in the media”, he added. He has also promised to move the USA embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to fortify Israel’s claim to the city as its capital, and appointed an ambassador with close ties to the settlement movement.

4The news comes shortly after Netanyahu – who had a cool relationship with President Obama – came to Washington to visit with President Trump and other top officials.

Netanyahu will depart Singapore for Australia on Tuesday, in a historic visit which will mark the first time in Israel’s history that a prime minister has visited in an official capacity.

Before departing for Singapore and Australia, Netanyahu told his cabinet Sunday that the visit aimed to strengthen security, economic and other ties with the two “important countries”, and to “strengthen Israel’s standing in the world”.

Palestine, IsraelHe said he feared a “death of an independent Palestine state” would only further inflame tensions in the Middle East.

“If we now start to fight with the Trump administration… and the Republican-majority Congress, people will really start to think that the leadership in the State of Israel is a bunch of nutcases”, he told Israel Radio.

Last week during their joint press conference, both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump implied that a regional peace plan might offer the best opportunity for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, without offering any details.

Netanyahu plans to visit just weeks after his government passed a controversial law retroactively legalising 4000 settlers’ homes built on privately owned Palestinian land.

The visit was aimed at reaffirming Singapore’s good relations with Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, and underscore Singapore’s commitment to support the capacity-building efforts of the Palestinian people.