Analysis: Israel Will Seize The Opportunity, Palestinians Will Miss It

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an event with President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, to announce the Trump administration's much-anticipated plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The announcement of President Trump’s ‘Deal Of The Century’ January 28th could and should be a historic opportunity both for Israel and the Palestinians, but almost inevitably only the Israelis will take advantage of it while the Palestinians will continue to fulfill the dictum coined by former Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban who said that they “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

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Cynics will claim that this was anyway the intention of the administration, offering the Palestinians a tantalizingly real state but with conditions so impossible for them to swallow that they cannot but refuse. However the current deal does offer the Palestinians a number of significant benefits, including land contiguity between the Gaza strip and Judea and Samaria as well as a recognized capital city and the chance to develop a thriving economy within their mini-state. The caveats will still outweigh the advantages, as giving up on Jerusalem, pay-for-slay salaries to convicted terrorists and the chance to rule over Judea and Samaria- land which was offered to Yassir Arafat by the Israeli government itself 20 years ago- is not an option for Palestinians or for their leaders.

The deal was crafted over the entire three years of the Trump presidency, with the initial work done during the 2017 visit to Saudia Arabia where Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, described his vision to the Saudis and received their tacit approval. At Tuesday’s ceremony the ambassadors of Oman and Kuwait were also present, signifying their approval of the peace initiative, and the administration has also made efforts to obtain support of Egypt and Jordan, leaving the Palestinians in isolated opposition to the deal together with Iran and -most recently- ISIS. The announcement was also carefully orchestrated for the day after International Holocaust Remembrance day. If Israel was born in a large part due to the Holocaust, the new deal builds on the world sympathy for Jews and Israel  which was evident at the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz held last week in Israel with over 40 world leaders present.

For Israel, the deal is a dream come true for the political right but surprisingly even for the Blue-And-White center-right party. Netanyahu has often claimed that they are a left-wing party but they will not oppose the Trump plan as in this way they can prove that they too are in the right-wing camp and could gain votes from the right. They would not dare to place themselves in a position to the left of the Trump administration and thus the president has secured Israel’s support for his deal irrespective of who will be elected prime minister in the March 2nd election.

Blue-And-White leader Benny Gantz will obviously favor waiting until after elections to implement the annexation of Judea and Samaria, but with Avigdor Lieberman expressing support for annexation, Israel will most likely seize the opportunity to gain its part of the deal even before elections, while the Palestinians will complain to their European sympathizers (who are fewer than before) and to the Hague International Court and may try to drum up internal opposition. Ultimately the fate of the settlement initiative now lies in the hands of the Israeli government for the first time since 1967.

 


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4 years ago

There arab physicians, pharamacists and AI workers who want peace, tranquility, earn a living and have a good family, with access to good medical care and other amenities which Israel provides