Nikki Haley says Trump's Middle East peace plan nearly ready
Nikki Haley addressed a number of issues Thursday night, among them the likelihood that the US would push for a Palestinian state.
By TAMAR BEN-OZERUpdated: FEBRUARY 23, 2018 11:25US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at UN headquarters in New York(photo credit: LUCAS JACKSON/REUTERS)
United States Ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday night said that President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan is nearly ready while speaking at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics.During a question-and-answer session led by the Institute's current head, David Axelrod, she said: "They're coming up with a plan. It won't be loved by either side, and it won't be hated by either side...I think they're finishing it up."Axelrod further questioned Haley on the matter, asking her whether the United States' peace proposal would be built around the basis of a Palestinian State, as US policy has consistently been in the past."It's for them to decide," she replied, adding that "it is hard for me to see how they would want [a single state]...they are pushing toward a two-state outcome."These comments came two days after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made a speech to the UN Security Council in which he requested the UN find an alternative to solely US-mediated negotiations.Soon after, Trump's peace team briefed members of the UN Security Council on their plan to jump-start negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, dismissing Abbas's request.In addition to addressing the Trump administration's peace plan, Thursday's Q&A session also focused on the issues of chain migration and the US's policy on North Korea.Michael Wilner contributed to this report
