Michael Goodwin: What Trump should tell Palestinian President Abbas
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In this March 29, 2017 file photo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends theArab League summit, at the Dead Sea, Jordan. (AP)
Because President Trump is a man in a hurry, here’s how he can save time today when he welcomes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House.
After the briefest of pleasantries, Trump can say, “Mr. Abbas, your people should be preparing to celebrate the 17th anniversary of the creation of their own state. But Yasser Arafat foolishly refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist at Camp David in 2000, so there was no deal, and history marched on without a Palestinian state.
“That was a mistake you can rectify right here, right now,” Trump continues. “I ask you, President Abbas, are you ready to recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland, renounce violence against it and negotiate peaceful, secure borders for two states?”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It is a yes-or-no question. If Abbas won’t say yes, the answer is no — and there is nothing more to discuss. Trump can spend his windfall of free time on issues more likely to bring results.
It has been said that hope is a good breakfast but a poor supper, and it is very late in the day to hope that Abbas will be something he has never been. Now 82, in the 12th year of the four-year term he was elected to in 2005, Abbas has not been honest about his endgame.
To continue reading Michael Goodwin's column in the New York Post, click here.