The UN General Assembly will convene on Sept. 19, and the Palestinians have less than two weeks to formulate the tone of President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech, to be delivered Sept. 20. The speech has been piquing interest, not only because it might be the last UN speech of the Palestinian leader, who will be 83 years old next year, but also because of the possibility that he will declare a divorce from US President Donald Trump's administration despite the heavy price such a move appears to entail.

The Palestinians are disappointed in Trump, his special envoy Jason Greenblatt and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner. At times during the last few months, it seemed to the Palestinians that the Americans might surprise them and pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a diplomatic process, but no longer. “After we talked in circles together, we’ve realized that [good] won’t come from them,” a senior Palestinian official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “Now the moment of truth has arrived.”

According to the source, the Palestinians discovered from a Sept. 6 Haaretz report that Trump, indeed, intends to meet with Abbas in New York. It remains unclear whether Trump is planning on a one-on-one or a three-way meeting that includes Netanyahu. In any case, Abbas has already made his decision, and he plans an assertive speech, which, according to the source, will reveal the “real face of Netanyahu.”

“Netanyahu is a peace rejectionist, so there’s no way of advancing the diplomatic process toward a permanent arrangement with the Israelis.” This is what, according to the source, Abbas intends to say to the assembled representatives, even though it is clear to him and senior Palestinian officials that such a dramatic statement would bring an end to the honeymoon period with the Trump administration.