As expected, the Palestinians rejected out of hand President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century” and obtained the blessings of the Arab League in doing so. The chilly responses to the plan by Russia and the European Union were also foregone conclusions. Trump special adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner was quick to clarify that implementation of the “plan” would be suspended until after the March 2 elections in Israel, but would that really change anything?
The coalition government formed after the elections may not have a majority keen to implement the plan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “natural partners,” namely, Naftali Bennett and his Yamina party, can’t even hear the word “Palestine.” Meanwhile, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz announced his support for the plan as a basis for negotiations with the Palestinians, but how can one negotiate with a party that was never included in the deal in the first place? To conduct real negotiations to resolve the conflict, an honest broker must be engaged. Anyone who dares claim that Trump is an honest and impartial mediator in the Arab-Israeli conflict should prepare for a White House attack of venomous tweets and rightly so.
