[WSJ] Get on the bus or get left behind. Not playing aroundThe Trump administration is expected to announce Monday that it will close the Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Washington, administration officials said Sunday night, widening a U.S. campaign of pressure amid stalled Middle East peace efforts.
"The United States will always stand with our friend and ally, Israel," national security adviser John "Darth" Bolton is planned to say in prepared remarks he is scheduled to deliver Monday, according a draft reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
"The Trump administration will not keep the office open when the Palestinians refuse to take steps to start direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel," he is planned to add.
Senior Palestinian officials strongly condemned the Trump administration decision and described it as a "reckless escalation."
Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian representative to Washington, said in an interview that the State Department informed the Palestine Liberation Organization of the U.S. decision to shutter its Washington office in a move that he said is part of the Trump administration's efforts to begin enacting its so-called "deal of the century."
"We don't think this is just about bullying...we believe this is about the implementing of Israel's grocery list, they are implementing it rather than pressuring us," Mr. Zomlot said in a interview on Monday, adding that relations between the Palestinians and Washington "are a historic low."
Oh, they can go lower. Keep it up
He said the Trump administration's move to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in bilateral
Define 'bilateral' for me. I just slipped in from an alternate universe. It means something different where I come from.
assistance to the Palestinians and to the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency; its criticisms of the way Palestinian refugees are defined at the United Nations; the Jerusalem move and its policy on settlements are evidence that the Trump administration is pressing ahead with its yet-to-be-revealed peace plan.
"All of this is making sure the U.S. will never ever play the role of the peacemaker," Mr. Zomlot said.
"peace" is not a goal of the Paleos