Trump threatens to take away more U.S. aid from Palestinians if they donât negotiate with Israel
President Trump  met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos  Switzerland  on  Jan. 25 where Netanyahu thanked Trump for recognizing Jerusalem as Israelâs capital . (The Washington Post)
 President Trump  met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos  Switzerland  on  Jan. 25 where Netanyahu thanked Trump for recognizing Jerusalem as Israelâs capital . (The Washington Post)
 President Trump  threatened Thursday to write off the Palestinian leadership and withdraw further U.S. aid if Palestinians are not serious about negotiating peace with Israel  deepening a diplomatic rift and putting Trumpâs hopes for a historic agreement on hold.
 Trump  cast doubt on whether talks could happen now  and blamed Palestinian intransigence rather than his decision to shift decades of U.S. policy on the status of Jerusalem.
âThat money is on the table  and that money is not going to them unless they sit down and negotiate peace â  Trump  said of the hundreds of millions in U.S. aid for the Palestinians.
[Palestinian leader attacks  Trump   calling his peace deal the âslap of the centuryâ]
Sitting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines at the global economic forum here   Trump  said that  his  decision last month to recognize Jerusalem as Israelâs capital had removed a major obstacle to a deal. But   Trump  said  Israel would âpayâ for the concession in future negotiations.
Netanyahu shifted in his seat at that  but otherwise beamed as  Trump  said he âtook Jerusalem off the table â and described an accelerated timetable for moving âa small versionâ of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
U.S. officials have said that the move will come by the end of next year  but  Trumpâs  wording made clear that the entire embassy  with  its  heavy security demands  will not move right away.
The Jerusalem move upended decades of U.S. policy that set the status of Jerusalem as undecided and a matter for mutual agreement by Israel and the Palestinians.  Trump âs willingness to withdraw funding for the Palestinians is also a departure from long-standing U.S. policy that sent millions to the Palestinian Authority and other agencies for schools  economic development projects and other support to Palestinians in the West Bank and elsewhere.
 Trump  said past efforts were too timid in using U.S. contributions as leverage.  He  also suggested past U.S. negotiators were also too hidebound in their view of Jerusalem.
âThis was never brought up by other negotiators  but itâs brought up by me. So I will say that the hardest subject they had to talk about was Jerusalem. We took Jerusalem off the table  so we donât have to talk about it anymore. They never got past Jerusalem. We took it off the table. We donât have to talk about it anymore. You won one point  and youâll give up some points later on in the negotiation  if it ever takes place. I donât know that it ever will take place â  Trump  said to Netanyahu.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum here  with an agenda that included future U.S. participation in the international nuclear deal with Iran. Netanyahu told  Trump  that he would back the United States if Washington walks away from the agreement that both leaders say is too weak.
 Trump  also met Thursday with British Prime Minister Theresa May  who broke with the U.S. leader over  his  retweet of far-right anti-Muslim videos.  Trump  took the opportunity to tell reporters that reported tension between them was just a âfalse rumor.â
 Trump  was scathing in  his  criticism of Palestinian leaders  who have not spoken with any senior U.S. officials since Trumpâs Dec. 6 announcement about Jerusalem. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. The area was annexed by Israel after the 1967 war with Arab states.
 Trump  has never been specific about whether  he  considers East Jerusalem to also be âoff the tableâ in future negotiations  and  he  did not answer shouted questions about that point on Thursday. But  his  wording and  his  reference to future Israeli trade-offs suggest that  he  considers  the city âs status to be settled business at least for now.
[TGT] met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos  Switzerland  on   [TGT]  . (The Washington Post)
  [TGT] met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos  Switzerland  on   [TGT]  . (The Washington Post)
  [TGT] threatened Thursday to write off the Palestinian leadership and withdraw further U.S. aid if Palestinians are not serious about negotiating peace with Israel  deepening a diplomatic rift and putting Trumpâs hopes for a historic agreement on hold.
  [TGT]   cast doubt on whether talks could happen now  and blamed Palestinian intransigence rather than his decision to shift decades of U.S. policy on the status of Jerusalem.
âThat money is on the table  and that money is not going to them unless they sit down and negotiate peace â   [TGT] said of the hundreds of millions in U.S. aid for the Palestinians.
[Palestinian leader attacks  Trump   calling  [TGT]  peace deal the âslap of the centuryâ]
Sitting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines at the global economic forum here    [TGT] said that  his  decision last month to recognize Jerusalem as Israelâs capital had removed a major obstacle to a deal. But    [TGT]   said  Israel would âpayâ for the concession in future negotiations.
Netanyahu shifted in his seat at that  but otherwise beamed as   [TGT] said  [TGT]  âtook Jerusalem off the table â and described an accelerated timetable for moving âa small versionâ of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
U.S. officials have said that the move will come by the end of next year  but   [TGT] wording made clear that the entire embassy  with   [TGT]   heavy security demands  will not move right away.
The Jerusalem move upended decades of U.S. policy that set the status of Jerusalem as undecided and a matter for mutual agreement by Israel and the Palestinians.   [TGT]  âs willingness to withdraw funding for the Palestinians is also a departure from long-standing U.S. policy that sent millions to the Palestinian Authority and other agencies for schools  economic development projects and other support to Palestinians in the West Bank and elsewhere.
  [TGT] said past efforts were too timid in using U.S. contributions as leverage.   [TGT]   also suggested past U.S. negotiators were also too hidebound in their view of Jerusalem.
âThis was never brought up by other negotiators  but itâs brought up by me. So I will say that the hardest subject they had to talk about was Jerusalem. We took Jerusalem off the table  so we donât have to talk about it anymore. They never got past Jerusalem. We took it off the table. We donât have to talk about it anymore. You won one point  and youâll give up some points later on in the negotiation  if it ever takes place. I donât know that it ever will take place â   [TGT] said to Netanyahu.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum here  with an agenda that included future U.S. participation in the international nuclear deal with Iran. Netanyahu told   [TGT] that he would back the United States if Washington walks away from the agreement that both leaders say is too weak.
  [TGT] also met Thursday with British Prime Minister Theresa May  who broke with the U.S. leader over  his  retweet of far-right anti-Muslim videos.   [TGT] took the opportunity to tell reporters that reported tension between  [TGT]  was just a âfalse rumor.â
  [TGT] was scathing in   [TGT]   criticism of Palestinian leaders  who have not spoken with any senior U.S. officials since Trumpâs Dec. 6 announcement about Jerusalem. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. The area was annexed by Israel after the 1967 war with Arab states.
  [TGT] has never been specific about whether   [TGT]   considers East Jerusalem to also be âoff the tableâ in future negotiations  and   [TGT]   did not answer shouted questions about that point on Thursday. But   [TGT]   wording and   [TGT]   reference to future Israeli trade-offs suggest that   [TGT]   considers  the city âs status to be settled business at least for now.