German politicians slam Trump's so-called peace plan

BERLIN

Senior German lawmakers have sharply criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's so-called "Deal of the Century" to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Norbert Roettgen, a senior lawmaker from Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said the plan was driven by domestic political concerns.

"The so-called #PeacePlan is to the detriment of #Palestine and presented as an ultimatum depicts a setback in the conflict. It is primarily a contribution to the ongoing election campaigns in the #USA & #Israel and a welcome diversion from domestic crises in both states," he said on Twitter.

Ralf Stegner, a prominent politician from Merkel's coalition partner, the Social Democrat Party (SPD), slammed the plan presented by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in White House on Tuesday.

"The 'Deal of the Century' presented by Trump and Netanyahu is not a 'peace plan' for the Middle East, it's rather a one-sided, illegal plan prepared without the involvement of Palestinians, and it's also a cheap election campaign maneuver for Trump's right-wing nationalist partner from Israel," he said on Twitter.

The opposition Left Party said Trump's proposals were nothing but an "annexation plan" for Israel and called on the German government to strongly reject it.

"Trump wants to give Israel sovereignty over all of Jerusalem. The suggested recognition of numerous settlements in the West Bank and the Israeli presence in the entire Jordan Valley would be against international law and legitimize Israel's land-grab policies," Heike Haensel, vice-chair of the Left Party's parliamentary group, said in a statement.

"This is an annexation plan and should not be supported by the German government," she stressed.

Trump unveiled his plan Tuesday during a press conference at the White House, where he was hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Palestinian leaders were not represented.

During the news conference, Trump referred to Jerusalem as "Israel's undivided capital."

Later, he released on Twitter a copy of his "conceptual map" for a two-state solution that included a greatly reduced Palestinian territory in the West Bank and suggested recognizing Israeli sovereignty over existing Jewish settlements, which are illegal under international law.