Netanyahu: A Trump-endorsed peace deal will come at a price

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was ready to oppose allies if they support BDS, and noted that should a peace deal be promoted by the US, Israel ought to be cautious.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that should US President Donald Trump endorse a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, it would come at a price whose brunt the Jewish state will eventually feel.

Speaking at a Likud faction meeting, the premier addressed the future of the stalled peace negotiations following Trump’s visit to the country.

“The public should know that we received last week 75 million dollars from the Trump administration but know that there is no such thing as innocent gifts,” the prime minister said, explaining that the US president expected to see progress in the peace process in return.

“The president said some important things and we congratulate him for that but he also said that he wants a deal, and that Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] wants a deal too. It’s important to know that Trump wants a deal, and it comes at a price,” he stated.

The prime minister also said that Israel’s foreign policy was taking on a more assertive tone as the government refuses to accept its allies’ open support of organizations that advocate the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), terror acts against Israel or actions against IDF soldiers.

“I think that you have been witnessing for quite some time now the resolute policy we have been implementing in our foreign policy about things that once were perhaps taken for granted but now we no longer view them that way,” Netanyahu said, noting that the government was slowly but surely pulling towards a change in foreign policy.

 

Read More: Netanyahu: A Trump-endorsed peace deal will come at a price