Former US President Donald Trump posted a letter he received from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Wednesday.
The letter suggests that the Palestinian President wants to open a new chapter with the Republican presidential candidate seven years after their fallout due to Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US Embassy to the city in December 2017.
The fact that Trump published the letter at this time indicates he has not abandoned his aspiration to achieve a historic peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Trump’s move frames his upcoming meeting with Netanyahu not only as a photo opportunity desired by the Israeli Prime Minister but as a more substantial meeting on advancing peace against the backdrop of the war in Gaza.
Abbas sent the letter to Trump on July 14, but it was not published until Trump shared it on his Truth Social account. Abbas wrote to Trump that he had seen footage of the assassination attempt against him and was very concerned. “There should be no place for acts of violence in a world of law and order,” Abbas wrote to Trump.
Trump returned the letter to Abbas with a handwritten note: “Mahmoud, so nice. Thank you. Everything will be good, best wishes. Donald Trump.”
Abbas and Trump have not spoken or exchanged letters since December 2017, which means that this letter exchange is the first known communication between them.
Past criticism
The Palestinian President had sharply criticized Trump over his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. However, in April 2021, Trump said that his conclusion from four years of working on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was that Abbas wanted peace while Netanyahu did not.
“I thought he was great,” Trump said about Abbas. “He was almost like a father. He couldn’t have been nicer. I thought he wanted to make a deal more than Netanyahu.”
In January 2020, Trump presented a peace plan based on a two-state solution that included establishing a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. Abbas, still angry with Trump, refused to discuss it. However, in the last three years, Abbas has criticized Biden for not doing enough to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and, unlike Trump, for never presenting his peace plan for a two-state solution.
A former senior Trump administration official said: “President Trump’s record of supporting Israel and the Jewish people is unmatched. President Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
He stopped funding UNRWA, ended the terrible nuclear deal with Iran, negotiated the historic Abraham Accords, recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel, signed an executive order to combat anti-Semitism on campuses, and much more. After he returns to the White House, President Trump will stand by Israel and achieve a long-lasting and sustainable peace in the Middle East.”
Captioning the post featuring Abbas’s letter, Trump reiterated that he would meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday.
“Looking forward to seeing [Benjamin] Netanyahu on Friday, and even more forward to achieving Peace in the Middle East! DJT,” Trump wrote.
The Jerusalem Post contributed to this article.
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