‘Seize the Moment and Change History,’ Netanyahu Urges as Trump Releases Peace Plan

President Donald Trump released his long-awaited Middle East peace plan on Tuesday with Benjamin Netanyahu by his side in Washington.

By Associated Press

President Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan Tuesday, calling for Israeli sovereignty over swathes of Judea and Samaria, disarming the Hamas terror group, and the creation of a State of Palestine, provided it recognizes Israel as a Jewish state.

Trump called the plan a “win-win” opportunity for both Israel and the Palestinians.

Trump released the plan before a pro-Israel audience at the White House with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side, who acknowledged that Trump has done a lot for Israel, but he said he wanted the deal to be a “great deal for the Palestinians.”

Trump said the deal is a “historic opportunity” for Palestinians to achieve an independent state of their own and Netanyahu intoned that the time has come “to seize the moment and change history.”

The plan recognizes Israeli sovereignty over major areas of Judea and Samaria.

The 50-page political outline includes a 30-page economic plan for the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria and Gaza that was unveiled last June.

Under the terms of the “peace vision” that Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has been working on for nearly three years, the future Palestinian state would consist of areas of Judea and Samaria and Gaza, connected by a combination of above-ground roads and tunnels.

Netanyahu and his main political challenger in March elections, Benny Gantz, had signed off on the plan.

During the unveiling, Netanyahu lauded Trump for putting to bed the “big lie” that Judea and Samaria are “illegally occupied” by Israel, calling the plan a “realistic path to durable peace.”