Jason Greenblatt
Jason GreenblattReuters

Jason Greenblatt, the US Special Representative for International Negotiations, on Sunday ripped senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi on Twitter, after Ashrawi tweeted about the US peace plan.

Ashrawi, responding to reports in Israel last week about the Trump administration’s peace plan, wrote, “You need a large grain of salt to believe any leak from Israeli sources, especially in the context of elections rhetoric.”

She noted that Greenblatt denied the report on Channel 13 News about the contents of the peace plan and added, “Hypotheticals and red herrings to distract and divert. The US administration has zero credibility.”

Greenblatt then fired back in a series of tweets, writing directly to Ashrawi, “You may dislike our policies and decisions, but to say we have ‘zero credibility’ is simply not factual. President Trump has kept his commitments, such as recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving our Embassy to Jerusalem.”

“Another commitment President Trump has made was to work to see if we can achieve Israeli/Palestinian peace. We are doing that, but no one- no country, group of countries, or international body- can promise to achieve it. You know that; everyone knows that - even if they won’t say it out loud,” he continued.

“Which do you think gives someone credibility- working to try to achieve peace or merely making political statements, which leads to nothing? You’re entitled to criticize our policies. But let’s not ignore the huge disservice being done to the Palestinians by refusing to engage.”

“Peace is worth pursuing and we are committed to trying. You and other leaders can also work hard and see if it can be done. Or you can all continue to prevent the many significant benefits of peace by refusing to engage. The ball is in your court. Time to be credible leaders,” added Greenblatt.

He also pointed out “the continued deep-seated division between Gaza and the West Bank and the hatred/competition between Fatah and Hamas. There are many, many reasons peace has not been achieved and why the Palestinians are in the condition that they are in.”

“Let’s be honest about that and not pretend recent US decisions are the cause of the current situation which has existed for decades. At the very least, the Palestinian leadership owes it to its people to review our proposal and see if negotiations can achieve something good for both sides and help the Palestinians. Nothing else will help them. Again, the choice is up to the Palestinian leadership. Keep trying to see what might be possible or just keep blaming others and ignoring the truth. I want to keep trying. What about you?” concluded Greenblatt.