US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman indicated that the US will not be releasing its Middle East peace plan in the immediate future.
Speaking in Jerusalem yesterday with American reporters who are covering US National Security Adviser John Bolton's visit to Israel, Friedman explained that the release of the plan would be postponed by "several months" amid Israeli elections and the ongoing PA refusal to accept the plan.
"We want to release it in a way that gives it the best chance of getting a good reception," he said, adding that Israeli elections "are a factor, but not the only factor."
Friedman said the contents are "pretty much completed," but there is additional "wordsmithing and smoothing" that needs to be done.
"The challenge to a peace plan is making the case for a much more sober assessment of the realities in this region," Friedman asserted. "The last time there was a meaningful agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians was 1993. A lot has happened since 1993.”
On Sunday, Bolton toured the Western Wall, accompanied by Friedman and Rabbi Mordechai Soli Eliav, chairman of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.