Why both sides will hate the plan
US President Donald Trump’s peace plan has given Israel a historic opportunity to apply sovereignty to all of the West Bank settlements, something that was offered in no other plan.
It also gives the Palestinians, for the first time, a Trump administration recognition of their right to a state, including a capital in east Jerusalem.
But in spite of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lauding of US President Donald Trump, many Palestinians and Israelis are likely to be up in arms about the plan.
For the Palestinians it is a lose- lose proposition. Prior
to the Trump administration, there was international consensus, including of the former Obama administration, that a two- state solution would be based on the pre1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.
The Trump plan totally dismisses the ‘ 67- line and gives the Palestinians less territory than they would have received under any previous plan. In addition, it has added in some new flash button issues which had not been on the table before.
But the major concession to Israel still has not assuaged the right- wing and settlers, and here is why.
A PALESTINIAN STATE Many right- wing Israelis are opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state in any form in the West Bank and had hoped that Trump’s peace plan would not recognize one. On Tuesday Trump made clear that he would. More significantly, he designated that areas within Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries, but outside the barrier, would be part of that state. He even promised to build an embassy there.
THE TEMPLE MOUNT Past plans had sought an international regime for Jerusalem’s Old City and the Temple Mount, Judaism’s most holy site and Islam’s third holiest site. It is known to them as al- Haram al- Sharif. Palestinians had imagined that both the Old City and al- Haram al- Sharif would be part of their state.
Trump’s plan places both areas under Israeli sovereignty, but with respect to the Temple Mount leaves the status quo intact, with one critical exception; Jews would now be allowed to pray there. This point, of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, has been a flashpoint for violence, and the specter of it has threatened to start a religious war.
According to the Trump plan, however, “People of every faith should be permitted to pray on the Temple Mount/ Haram al- Sharif, in a manner that is fully respectful to their religion, taking into account the times of each religion’s prayers and holidays, as well as other religious factors.”
POPULATION TRANSFER Past plans have spoken of land swaps, but have not included areas where IsraeliArabs live. Trump’s plan speaks of the possibility that the following communities in an area of the country, known as the Triangle, could become part of the Palestinian state. This would include: Kafr Qara, Ar’ara, Baha al- Gharbiyye, Umm al Fahm, Qalansawe, Tayibe, Kafr Qasim, Tira, Kafr Bara and Jaljulia. Netanyahu has promised that no Arabs would be uprooted, but he had made no mention of the possibility that their communities would be redrawn into a Palestinian state. The possibility of such a population transfer has been one of the more controversial ideas that rightwing Israelis have placed on the table.
SOVEREIGNTY OVER WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS
No past plan has included sovereignty over all Israeli settlements. But in the absence of any significant progress on the peace tract, right- wing Israelis and settlers have begun to presume that all of Area C, which makes up 60% of the West Bank, would be part of Israel. They had plans to vastly expand settlement there, with dreams of a population of over one million people. The current plan gives them what they have, but does not allow for expansion. It calls for a settlement freeze in all portions of Area C not under Israeli sovereignty – not even at the planning stage. It also green lights Palestinian construction in Area C Arab communities and prevents the demolition of existing illegal Palestinian homes in those areas. Effectively, it ends the battle for Area C.
Settlers are also concerned about the fate of 15 settlements that would be placed in enclaves, within territory that would otherwise be part of a Palestinian state. The fear is that the such placement would ultimately doom those communities and make it untenable for the residents to continue living there. •