News:US President has released the Middle East plan,Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People.
Facts:
Issues between Israel and Palestine:
- The status of Jerusalem including historical sites sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
- Establishing mutually agreed borders and finding security arrangements to satisfy Israeli fears of attacks by Palestinians.
- The Palestinian demand for statehood in territory — the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War.
- Finding a solution to the plight of millions of Palestinian refugees.
- Palestinian demands that Israel remove its settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Key features of the Middle East Plan:
- Jerusalem to stay united and remain the capital of Israel.
- The capital of Palestine can occupy far-flung areas of eastern Jerusalem which can be renamed Al Quds, the Arabic name for Jerusalem.
- Israel does not have to dismantle any of its illegal settlements in the West Bank.
- The status quo to be preserved at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif complex which lies in the eastern part of the city captured by Israel in the 1967 war.
- Transportation links to be established between the unconnected Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza.
- A $50 billion investment fund to boost the Palestinian and neighbouring Arab state economies.
