US President Donald Trump to unveil Middle East peace plan amid skepticism

US President Donald Trump is set to unveil his administration’s much-anticipated Mideast peace plan in latest American venture to resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Odds of it taking shape, though, appear long, given Palestinians’ preemptive rejection of of plan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s shaky political standing. For both men, White House summit looks to be a welcome diversion.

Trump is expected to present proposal alongside Netanyahu at on Tuesday. event comes same day as Trump’s impeachment trial continues in Senate and Israeli parliament holds a hearing to discuss Netanyahu’s request for immunity from criminal corruption charges. proposal is expected to be very favorable to Israel, and Netanyahu has hailed it as a chance to “make history” and define Israel’s final borders. Trump insists it has a chance despite skepticism.

“It’s been worked on by everybody and we’ll see wher or t it catches hold. If it does, that would be great and if it doesn’t, we can live with it, too. But I think it might have a chance,” he said Monday alongside Netanyahu. A key element will be wher proposal includes an American approval to any Israeli annexation of West Bank.

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In run-up to Israel’s March 2 election, Netanyahu has called for annexing parts of West Bank and imposing Israeli sovereignty on all its settlements re. Israel captured West Bank in 1967 Mideast war, and Jordan Valley in particular is considered a vital security asset. Reports in Israeli media have speculated Trump’s plan could include possible annexation of large pieces of territory that Palestinians seek for a future independent state. American approval could give Netanyahu type of cover to go ahead with a move that he’s resisted taking for more than a decade in power.

But Netanyahu leads a caretaker government ahead of country’s third election in less than a year, and such a far-reaching move, under cloud of criminal corruption indictment less, could lack public legitimacy. Such a policy shift would appeal to Netanyahu’s hard-line nationalist supporters but would almost certainly torpedo viability of an independent Palestinian state and likely infuriate neighboring Jordan. In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, second between Israel and its Arab neighbors after Egypt.

Palestinians seek West Bank as heartland of a future independent state and east Jerusalem as ir capital. Most of international community supports ir position, but Trump has reversed decades of U.S. foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel. centerpiece of his strategy was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving American Embassy re. He’s also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programs.

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Those policies have proven popular among Trump’s evangelical and pro-Israel supporters and could give him a much-needed boost from his base as Senate weighs wher to remove him from office and as he gears up for a reelection battle this year. Jared Kushner, a Trump adviser and president’s son-in-law, has been architect for plan for nearly three years. He’s tried to persuade academics, lawmakers, former Mideast negotiators, Arab governments and special-interest groups t to reject his fresh approach outright.

But Palestinians refuse to even speak to Trump, calling him biased in favor of Israel, and are calling on Arab representatives to reject Tuesday event at White House. Palestinian leadership has also encourd protests in West Bank, raising fears that anuncement in Washington could spark a new round of violence.