President Trump criticized Palestine in a tweet last night, pointing out that the US gives them hundreds of millions of dollars in aid but that we get no “appreciation or respect” in return. He also criticized them for not wanting to negotiate a peace treaty with Israel that is, in his view, overdue.
…peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
President Trump declared Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel last month and ordered the State Department to make preparations to move the US embassy there. The move was seen as controversial and drew rebuke not just from the Palestinians but most of the international community. The status of Jerusalem is one of the most critical issues in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and is often seen as a “final-status” issue, an issue that should be decided as part of a final peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
President Trump painted the move as a positive, writing that by taking that issue off the table, they were eliminating one of the toughest parts of the negotiation.