Analysis: Bushehr for Yitzhar,
The US “Vision for Peace” would allow Israel to apply its civil laws to 30% of the West Bank, including settlements and the Jordan Valley, which is currently governed by the military. The rest of the West Bank would be designated for a future Palestinian state.
The White House still hopes to see the two Israeli leaders decide together on which settlements Israel should apply its sovereignty over, because they think the new situation will have greater permanence if it is viewed as having support from a broad political spectrum in Israel. However, the peace team plans to discuss what to do if Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu do not find common ground.
Netanyahu has said he wants to apply Israeli law to the full 30% of the West Bank allotted by the Trump plan.
Gantz has called the Trump plan a “historic opportunity,” but has strong reservations about many of its details, and seeks to reduce the area in which Israel would extend its sovereignty. He and Netanyahu have discussed a phased sovereignty plan.
US Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs David Schenker said Israel will likely take the concerns of the United Arab Emirates and other Arab nations into consideration when weighing its plans.
Gantz has expressed concerns that unilateral action would put the peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt at risk.
“It is no secret that the Emirates and other states in the region are concerned about annexation. Israel has a number of decisions before it,” he said in an interview with KAN Radio. “However Israel proceeds, it will do so while taking steps that will preserve the administration’s vision for peace. Israel has been in the past savvy with how it handles its relations with its Arab partners, so I am sure they will take all these factors into consideration.”
Jordan and the UAE have been especially vocal on the topic, with the UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef al Otaiba publishing an opinion piece in Yediot Aharonot warning that any annexation plan could destroy Israel’s normalization efforts with the Arab world.
Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, argued in May that the Pentagon must shift its ongoing modernization efforts into high gear to meet emerging threats. Israel can help because it is “one of America’s closest and most technologically advanced allies.”
This means Washington and Jerusalem are well suited to collaborate because Israel must innovate to meet new threats and the Pentagon will no longer miss out on this Israeli sense of urgency, which “could have led to the more expeditious fielding of weapons to US troops.”
Israel benefits from the US economy of scale. Anyone familiar with the massive footprint should consider what it looks like. Lockheed Martin makes around $50b. in sales a year and has more than 100,000 employees. Israel’s largest defense company has about a tenth of that depending on the year. Israel punches far above its weight in technology.