Deal or No Deal?

With the release of President Trump’s so called “Deal of the Century,” it has led to various responses, some supporting, some opposing, and some waiting for further discussion.

Concerning the Arab response, there appeared to be contradictions in reporting, with some saying Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seemed amenable to the plan.

However, the Arab League voted to reject the plan, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas declared his ‘1,000 Nos’ to the plan. Iran calls Arab supporters of the plan ‘traitors’, and Turkey seeks to “portray its rulers as rallying against the deal and seeking to save Jerusalem. Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted Hamas over the weekend to showing he was standing against Trump’s deal.”

Russia’s Vladimir Putin expressed that the deal contradicts previous UN decisions and doesn’t believe it will succeed.

The reality of the reception of the deal is it may receive, as Jared Kushner remarked, a great deal of moderating and changing. “There is no simplistic narrative about ‘support’ or ‘opposition’ to the plan in Saudi Arabia, UAE, or Bahrain. There is an official narrative and also a different view among average people and also the way the security establishment sees the region…The Israel-Palestinian aspect is only one aspect of this.

The desire for peace in the region and achieving that peace will go through a myriad of struggles and challenges. But, achieving peace is worth the effort. Now, more than ever, pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6).

(Source: The Jerusalem Post)