By Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby , BESA July 15, 2020
T. Belman. This says everything you need to know. Remember, I kept telling you to ignore Trump’s Plan. Now you know why. “A notable feature of the plan is the warning that, if the Palestinians continue to reject peace unreasonably, the US will not block Israel from advancing its own claims to areas that, in the administration’s view, realistic peace talks would leave to Israel.”
The US has now “tried” to get a deal. Having failed, Israel is free to do what it wants without an American block. I expect sovereignty to be extended next week. The Trump Plan is dead.
Mideast Security and Policy Studies Paper #175
President Donald Trump unveils his peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians, Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Trump peace plan tells the Palestinians that the sensible question is not whether a deal provides everything you think you are entitled to, but whether it is the best deal available. If their demands for “justice” include Israel’s destruction, it says, the United States will not support them and will not fight to preserve the status quo for their benefit. A notable feature of the plan is the warning that, if the Palestinians continue to reject peace unreasonably, the US will not block Israel from advancing its own claims to areas that, in the administration’s view, realistic peace talks would leave to Israel.
The plan’s strong language reflects acquaintance with the long, exasperating history of US diplomacy undone by Palestinian rejectionism and terrorism. Knowledge of that history is crucial for assessing the plan.
In the past, US diplomacy aimed directly at a Palestinian-Israeli deal and repeatedly failed. This plan stresses that fundamental Palestinian reforms are required first. It assumes that current Palestinian leaders won’t reform, so it appeals over their heads to the public they are misgoverning and around them to the Arab states.
The plan has some creative elements and some that may not prove realistic, but critics who say that Trump’s plan won’t win acceptance by Mahmoud Abbas are missing its main point, which is that the Palestinians need new leaders. The plan does not hold out the promise of a quick deal. Rather, it has a more limited aim: to improve chances that peace will one day be possible. Meanwhile, it takes the current and future security concerns of Israel seriously and bolsters US support.
@ Wooly Mammoth:
Netanyahu is having a hard time doing anything now. Due to the Corona Virus pandemic he is having massive problems in Israel. He is popularity is rapidly deteriorating.
The Wuhan virus CANNOT be an excuse not to move forward.
Is there only one HEAD in this government!!!
@ Wooly Mammoth:
There is not a chance in Hell that Trump will lose.
Ted Belman Said:
I agree with this statement. I do not agree however that Israel should apply sovereignty in a panic. This seems like a panic to me.
What is the rush. I would like to know whether in seven months we are going to have a President Trump or a President Biden (g_d forbid) next February.
Maybe I am wrong, but is is possible that Netanyahu would like to know the same thing and right now I believe even Israeli Intelligence can not answer this question with a great degree of certainty.
A premature move will end up being a fools errand. Biden will erase whatever he can of Trump’s executive decisions including The Iran Deal, Jerusalem, despite what the grand plagiarized insists he will not do, which no one believes, and the Golan Heights, for starters.
Biden will be pure hell for Israel and making this move now with no support in the UN guaranteed after the middle of January 2021 would be an idiotic move and open up all kinds of charges in a variety of legal forums/venues/courts, whatever.
I trust Netanyahu to make the right decision.
In a way, his whole career has been a prep education in how to deal with this conundrum. He will do the right thing whether it makes him look good or not. Why? Because Netanyahu is invested in Israel’s future. If he was so selfish and indifferent he would have used his experience and reputation 10 years ago to attain a position in the private sector which would have netted him 50-100 Billion US dollars or more by now.
So much for the charges of corruption. Bull. Netanyahu works within the system set up in Israel in the same way that Trump took advantage of the system in The US to win. That is what the two have in common.
Ted, my hope is the situation is as you describe. Sovereignty next week.
Dore Gold who was instrumental in creating the “Trump Vision for Peace” wrote an article about this plan and the background why it was created as it is.
Whole article at https://jcpa.org/article/amb-dore-gold-setting-the-stage-for-a-peace-process-that-can-work/
US urges Netanyahu to keep alive chance of Palestinian state. That is the concession the US is asking for. This IS NOT something Bibi will agree to do in my view in order to get US approval for sovereignty application in Judea/Samaria by Israel.
@ Ted Belman:
I have no guesses that I believe will happen. Sovereignty may very well still happen but the King of Jordan being ousted and replaced by Mudar if that is what you are alluding to, I am not convinced in the least.
The Plan has served its purpose.
@ Bear Klein:
The Plan was never intended to be accepted and it wont be. Its dea as intended. Guess what’s going to happen shortly after the announced sovereignty extension. One guess.
Trump team came up with a plan Israel would more or less agree to. One of the main contributors to the plan was Dore Gold, a man close to Bibi. This plan is an expanded version of Bibi’s Bar Illan speech.
All other plans started from what the Pals wanted and whittled it down a little bit to try and somewhat appear reasonable to Israeli concerns.
All plans fail to account (including Trumps) for the fact that no plan can work because the goal of the Pal-Arab organizations one and all is to destroy Israel. Somehow most westerners either do not grasp this or ignore it because they are anti-Israel.
Ted, Until some of the other issues are settled down the government may want to wait on annexation a few weeks.
Danny Dannon said two weeks ago that sovereignty will take place within eight weeks. Corona Virus issues may need to be going in the right direction before this is on the voting agenda of either the Cabinet or Knesset.