Netanyahu prepares for elections, makes diplomatic push

In those long-ago days before the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018, when the Saudi heir to the throne, Mohammed bin Salman, was considered the white knight of the West and when his father charged him with solving the problems of the Middle East, the prince made his diplomatic positions clear to US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who was then considered his spiritual brother. 

Kushner, who shared his diplomatic vision with Prince Mohammed, told him that those who tried to reach Israeli-Palestinian peace by the old methods had been burned, and that he expects him to support a new approach. Mohammed, for whom the Palestinian issue was never high on his agenda, asked about the new approach. Kushner said that he intends to show the situation in the Holy Land the day after peace is achieved. That is, to describe the huge advantages for all sides of a sustainable peace between the Palestinians and Israel, and to leave the details — what Palestinian entity would be created in the territory, where the border will fall, what will happen in Jerusalem, how to solve the refugee crisis and all the other topics that have divided the sides for many years — to be decided by the two disputing nations. 

The crown prince was impressed, as was reported, by the new approach that has never been tried, that is, to start from the end, and said that he would be willing to help this bold process on four conditions: that the agreement would be based on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative — that is the Saudi initiative; that it would be clear there would be two states and not one and not only a Palestinian autonomy; that Israel would stop significant construction in the settlements, even if it doesn’t declare it; and that it would immediately allow construction of housing units for Palestinians in West Bank Area C, where Israel has civil and security responsibility. 

We know what happened in the meantime. Khashoggi’s murder disrupted many plans: Mohammed lost much of his luster; his father took away his responsibility for the Middle East; Trump’s “deal of the century,” which was supposed to be released many months ago is dawdling, whether because of the April election or the upcoming election in Israel, or other reasons. The economic workshop in Bahrain on June 25 — without Israel’s participation, without the Palestinians’ participation and with only low-level participation from the Arab world — was a pathetic event that tried to put the cart before the horse and focus only on economic issues, without dealing with a diplomatic solution or American commitment to participate in funding them. It seemed to many that the American plan was buried at Manama, until suddenly the Israeli security Cabinet decided July 30 to approve the construction of 715 housing units for Palestinians in Area C.