"We will not put forth a plan or endorse a plan that doesn't meet all of Israel's security issues because they are of extreme importance to us," U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt said in an interview to the Land of Israel Network over the weekend.
Greenblatt said the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump was "completely committed to Israel's security and we believe the plan will clearly reflect this, and that ultimately both sides will have to feel comfortable with the plan. ... So what we want people to ask themselves after reading the plan is: Will we better off with this plan or continuing without it? We think both sides are going to gain a lot more than they give."
Last week Greenblatt said Trump wanted this to be a "year of peace."
"People frequently come up to me to ask me to thank President Donald Trump for restoring hope for peace in the region and for making it part of the daily discourse again. People understand this is an extraordinary challenge," he said.
In his interview, Greenblatt reiterated that the administration wanted to look at the Israel-Palestinian conflict from different angles and was not afraid of criticism.
Trump's approach to the conflict is different from his predecessors, Greenblatt said, "Because it recognizes the history of the conflict and it doesn't rely on worn ideas about what should be, rather focuses of what can be."
Over the past several months Greenblatt has quietly been drafting Trump's "deal of the century" and is holding his cards close to his chest. It still is not clear when the plan will be unveiled and despite unconfirmed reports that it would be revealed soon, the administration has made it clear it would present the plan only when it is complete and only when the date of its release is suitable to all parties.
Greenblatt intimated in the interview that an agreement with Gaza was also important for the peace plan to succeed.
"At the end of the day, if we don't solve the situation in Gaza, it will be an obstacle to peace. Hamas itself is an obstacle in the road to peace … and the Palestinians of Gaza are hostage to Hamas and they suffer terribly under Hamas' iron fist rule," he said.
According to Greenblatt, the peace plan will be a "comprehensive document" that will clearly propose solutions to allow both sides to consider "whether they are willing to live with them." The plan, he said, is a product of lengthy consultations with the Palestinians and Israelis and with regional leaders, and it will be "realistic, fair and no less important – implementable."
He also said the Palestinians' decision to boycott the administration following its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital is hurting it.
Greenblatt added that Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital and relocate the U.S. Embassy there "was not intended to exact a price out of Israel. There's no particular demand on Israel in exchange for those decisions."
Last week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas demanded that Greenblatt be replaced as peace mediator because of his bias in favor of Israel, a senior PA official and close associate of Abbas told Israel Hayom.
Greenblatt stressed that the only true way to know what the Trump administration is trying to accomplish in the Middle East, is to hear it from those individuals who are part of the team, and not from unreliable sources.
