SCOOP: Saudi Crown Prince told Jewish leaders: Palestinians should take what the Trump administration offers or stop complaining - my story on @axios and @news10 axios.com/saudi-crown-pr…
And here are the details: In a closed-door meeting with heads of Jewish organizations in New York on March 27th, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) gave harsh criticism of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen)
The bottom line of the crown prince's criticism: Palestinian leadership needs to finally take the proposals it gets from the U.S. or stop complaining
The meeting was off the record but I learned about its details from an Israeli foreign ministry cable sent by a diplomat from the Israeli consulate in New York who was briefed by several people who attended. I also spoke to 3 sources – Israeli and American – who were briefed
According to my sources MBS told the Jewish leaders: "In the last decades the Palestinians have missed 1 opportunity after the other & rejected every proposal. It's about time Palestinians take the proposals & agree to come to negotiate or shut up and stop complaining"
MBS also made clear the Palestinian issue was not a top priority for the Saudi government or Saudi public opinion. He said Saudi Arabia "has much more urgent and important issues to deal with" like confronting Iran's influence in the region
Regardless of all his criticism of the Palestinian leadership, MBS also made clear that in order for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to normalize relations with Israel there will have to be significant progress on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process
A source who was briefed on the meeting told me the attendees were stunned when they heard the Saudi Crown Prince comments on the Palestinian issue. "People literally fell off their chairs," the source said
Why it matters? In the last year the White House has been drafting a Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. The U.S. peace team led by Trump's senior adviser Jared Kushner & special envoy Jason Greenblatt has basically finished drafting the plan & is discussing how & when to launch it
Launching the plan will be difficult because the Palestinians boycott the WH due to Trump's Jerusalem announcement. Kushner got MBS on board in trying to move the peace process & get the Arab world to urge the Palestinians to enter peace talks on the basis of the U.S. plan. END
