U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will release his long-awaited plan for Middle East peace ahead of a Tuesday meeting with Israel's prime minister in Washington.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One en route to Miami for a political event, Trump said Palestinians might react negatively to his plan at first, but that it would benefit them.
"Probably we'll release it a little bit prior to that," said Trump.
"It's a great plan. It's a plan that really would work," he added.
The Palestinians, who were not invited to the White House meeting with Netanyahu, immediately rejected the U.S. move.
The White House said President Trump will host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week to discuss his long-awaited plans for Middle East peace.
Vice President Mike Pence first announced the invitation to right-wing Netanyahu and his main election rival, Benny Gantz, head of the centrist Blue and White party during a visit to Jerusalem to mark 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.
Speaking at the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, Pence said Trump "asked me to extend an invitation to Prime Minister Netanyahu to come to the White House next week to discuss regional issues, as well as the prospect of peace here in the Holy Land."
Netanyahu welcomed the invitation, saying Trump "is seeking to give Israel the peace and security it deserves."
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose administration is boycotting Trump, immediately rejected the U.S. move.
"This step only reaffirms our absolute rejection of what the U.S. administration has done so far, particularly the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital," Abbas's spokesman said in a statement.
Abbas cut off all ties with the U.S. in December 2017 after Trump broke with decades of international consensus and recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
The Palestinians see the eastern part of the city as the capital of their future state and world powers have long agreed that Jerusalem's fate should be settled via negotiations.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greet each other at the World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem, January 23, 2020. /AP Photo
Trump's 'ultimate deal'
Trump came to power in 2017 promising to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, which he labelled the "ultimate deal." But he has since taken a series of decisions that outraged the Palestinians, including cutting hundreds of millions in aid and declaring that the U.S. no longer considered Israel's West Bank settlements illegal.
His plan for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is believed to revolve around encouraging massive economic investment.
After many postponements, the peace initiative was expected in the autumn. But it was delayed after September elections in Israel proved inconclusive, and it was not expected to be released until after the March 2 elections.
The Washington meeting comes little more than a month before new Israeli elections, with polls showing Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and Gantz's centrist Blue and White party neck-and-neck.
The meeting on Tuesday coincides with an expected session in the Israeli parliament to discuss Netanyahu's potential immunity from prosecution over a series of corruption charges.
Israeli media speculated that Trump had chosen to announce the event in support of Netanyahu's election bid – the third in a year.
(With inputs from AFP, Reuters)
(Cover: President Donald Trump arrives at Miami International Airport to attend the Republican National Committee winter meetings, January 23, 2020, in Miami. /AP Photo)