WaPo: Trump and Netanyahu have made Mideast peace an even more distant prospect
THE MIDEAST peace plan that President Trump unveiled at the White HouseTuesday amounts, as a practical matter, to another one-sided gift to the right-wing Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr.?Trump promised U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and all of the settlements Israel has constructed in the West Bank a radical shift in a half-century-old American policy.
Mr. Netanyahu, who gleefully pledged to immediately apply Israeli law to all areas the plan recognizes, reciprocated by calling Mr. Trump the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. Mr. Trump can be expected to flog that endorsement as he seeks reelection this year. Mr. Netanyahu, in turn, will present himself to Israeli voters in a March election as the leader who extracted once-unimaginable concessions from Washington. Both leaders can hope to distract from ongoing scandals: Mr. Trump from his impeachment trial and Mr. Netanyahu from his indictment Tuesdayon corruption charges.
U.S. sanctions for the annexation of settlements will meanwhile deliver a devastating blow to the prospects for a two-state resolution between Israelis and Palestinians. Those who actually favor that, as we do, will have to hope that the remainder of the plan is soon forgotten. Otherwise, it may provide a new set of benchmarks that will make peace impossible and from which future Israeli and U.S. governments will find it hard to retreat.
The terms Mr. Trump set for Palestinian statehood are virtually identical to those promoted by Mr. Netanyahu, which is no doubt why the latter was so quick to endorse them. The Palestinian state would lack many conventional aspects of sovereignty, including control over its borders, airspace, territorial waters and international relations. Israel would retain overriding security responsibility, including the right to send its own forces into Palestinian territory. Tens of thousands of Israelis would go on living in settlements inside the new Arab state and would be governed by Israel. And Israel would have full sovereignty over Jerusalem, except for a few areas already outside the citys security barrier.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trumps-mideast-peace-plan-is-a-one-sided-gift-to-netanyahu/2020/01/28/43708452-4201-11ea-aa6a-083d01b3ed18_story.html
no_hypocrisy
(45,771 posts)SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)madaboutharry
(40,150 posts)This is not a serious proposal. All this accomplishes is enabling Netanyahu and policies that are counter productive and undermining to any chance of peace.
This is what happens when there is no leadership.