Israeli PM in Moscow to discuss US Mideast peace plan

Moscow

Israeli prime minister came to Moscow to discuss the US Mideast peace plan and take an Israeli woman who had been jailed in Russia back home. Benjamin Netanyahu made a stopover in Moscow after visiting Washington where US President Donald Trump as he unveiled his long-awaited Mideast peace plan. Trump’s plan envisions a disjointed Palestinian state that turns over key parts of the West Bank to Israel. It sides with Israel on key contentious issues that have bedeviled past peace efforts, including borders and the status of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements, and attaches nearly impossible conditions for granting the Palestinians their hoped-for state.

Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin as they sat down for talks in the Kremlin that he wants to discuss the plan and hear his opinion about it. “You are the first leader I am speaking with after my visit in Washington for Trump’s Deal of the Century,” he said. “I think there is a new opportunity here, maybe even unique opportunity, and I’d like to discuss it with you and hear your insights.” Trump called his plan a ‘win-win’ for both Israel and the Palestinians, and urged the Palestinians not to miss their opportunity for independence. But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plan as ‘nonsense’ and vowed to resist it.