Israeli officials reject U.S.-imposed plan

Israeli officials reportedly rejected the idea of a U.S.-conceived peace plan being applied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I don’t believe this will be accepted by the administration because it will be a grave mistake,” Danny Ayalon, the Israeli deputy foreign minister, told The Wall Street Journal, referring to a report that Obama administration national security adviser James Jones is pushing for such a plan within the White House. “The solution has to be homegrown.”

The Journal’s story on Tuesday also quoted a “senior Netanyahu administration official” as saying that “the Israelis and the Palestinians have to live together in peace and that an agreement has to be negotiated between them directly.”

Jones has downplayed reports of his consultations with experts and predecessors toward a U.S.-initiated plan. “We’ve not taken any decision to jumpstart any dramatic shift in our strategy,” he told reporters last week. “We don’t intend to surprise anybody at any time.”