Palestinian president blasts Trump in defiant speech

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sharply condemned President Trump in a speech Sunday over the White House’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The Associated Press reports that Abbas blasted the president over Trump’s insinuation that Palestinians had “rejected” negotiations for a two-state solution with Israel.

“[Trump] said in a tweet: ‘We won’t give money to the Palestinians because they rejected the negotiations,’ ” Abbas said. “Shame on you. When did we reject the talks? Where is the negotiation that we rejected?”

Abbas went on to say that the administration’s recognition of Jerusalem was “the slap of the century,” but warned “we will slap back.” {mosads}

“We can say no to anyone if things are related to our fate and our people, and now we have said no to Trump,” he said. “We told him the deal of the century was the slap of the century. But we will slap back.”

Abbas’s statements came just over a week after Trump threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinian government over their response to Trump’s announcement on Jerusalem, attacking the Palestinian Authority in a series of tweets.

“We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?” Trump said in early January.

“[W]e pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel,” Trump added.

The decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem was met with widespread criticism from America’s allies around the world, and in late December the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly voted to condemn the Trump administration’s move.

“The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out in this assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said ahead of the vote. “We will remember it when, once again, we are called up to make the world’s largest contribution to the U.N., and we will remember it when many countries come calling on us to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.”