Arab League Shot Down US President Donald Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan

League members met in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the deal, touted by Trump as the “deal of the century,” and a realistic roadmap to peace between Israel and Palestine. Speaking at the meeting, Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas announced he would cut all ties with the US and Israel over the plan, and would not go down in history as the person who “sold out Jerusalem.”

After “studying the American position carefully,” the Arab League sided with Abbas and issued a unanimous rejection of the plan on Saturday. In a joint communique, officials from the 22 member states said the deal would not lead to a just peace between both sides, and the league will not cooperate with the US to implement it.

Under the terms of the deal, Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank would be legitimized, and the Jewish state would annex vast swathes of fertile Palestinian land. While the plan provides for a sovereign Palestinian state, its capital would be located outside East Jerusalem, and its security and border policy would be decided by Israel.

Furthermore, the plan recognizes the entirety of Jerusalem, including the holy sites on Temple Mount, as Israeli property. Jerusalem is claimed as a capital city by both Israel and Palestine, and by ceding the city to Israel, the Trump administration likely anticipated its rejection by Abbas and the Arabs.