The Reporter (Lansdale, PA)

NATION Trump’s Mideast hopes run into snags

- By Matthew Lee and Josh Lederman

Under the best of circumstan­ces, a Mideast peace deal is the Holy Grail of diplomacy, a goal that has eluded American presidents for generation­s.

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to visit Washington this coming week, the mix of politics, personalit­ies and historical grievances that has stood in the way of Israeli-Palestinia­n peace is even more combustibl­e than normal.

President Donald Trump’s point man for mediation, Jared Kushner, is in the middle of a political firestorm, his plan remains a mystery and the Palestinia­ns aren’t even speaking to the White House. If that weren’t enough, Netanyahu and Trump are both distracted by mushroomin­g legal investigat­ions at home.

It’s all contributi­ng to an intensifie­d pessimism in the U.S., Israel and the West Bank about prospects for a Trump-brokered initiative to succeed.

Kushner and a small team have spent the past year preparing a muchawaite­d blueprint for peace, but no details have emerged. Many in the region wonder whether the vaunted plan will ever come.

On the surface, Israel’s relationsh­ip with the White House has never been better, buoyed by the Jewish state’s thunderous support for Trump’s decision to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and recognize the disputed city as Israel’s capital. The announceme­nts only reinforced Palestinia­ns impression­s of Trump as biased against them.

“A mediator will have to mediate between two semi-equal parties. Otherwise it’s not a mediation process,” said Husam Zomlot, the Palestinia­n ambassador to Washington, in a recent Associated Press interview. “You have to level the field and level your relationsh­ip between the two sides in order to be an honest mediator.”

The world may soon be able to judge for itself.

The Trump administra­tion’s peace proposal is near completion, according to U.S. officials, but faces an uncertain future as Kushner, the Trump son-in-law leading the effort, recently lost his top-secret security clearance. Former negotiator­s say Kushner’s downgraded status probably will severely impair his ability to do the job.

Beneath the veneer of U.S.-Israeli unity, there is lingering disagreeme­nt and suspicion.

Israel is increasing­ly worried that Trump is backslidin­g on a pledge to “fix” or dismantle the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Israel also is concerned that behind Trump’s tough public stance toward Tehran is an acquiescen­ce to Iran’s growing presence in Syria and influence in Lebanon — two Israeli neighbors.

“The Israelis now are undoubtedl­y sounding the alarm,” said Jonathan Schanzer, who researches Iran’s regional influence at the hawkish Foundation for the Defense of Democracie­s. “The assets the Israelis see on the other side of the border to its north — they are not happy.”

Neverthele­ss, it’s in Netanyahu’s interest to keep such disputes out of the public eye, said David Makovsky, a former State Department official who worked on Mideast peace negotiatio­ns. The Israeli leader faces multiple investigat­ions related to allegation­s of bribery and corruption.

“It’s important for him not to run afoul of Trump,” said Makovsky, now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “It’s necessary for him to show he’s not so engulfed by his own legal problems that he’s not functionin­g as a leader.”

Trump and Netanyahu are scheduled to meet Monday, in the middle of the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference, which brings thousands of pro-Israel officials, lawmakers, activists and academics to Washington.

Vice President Mike Pence, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Trump’s envoy to Israel, David Friedman, will give speeches, and each is likely to hammer away at Iran.

Israel views Iran as an existentia­l threat and Netanyahu has repeatedly implored Trump to “fix it or nix it” when it comes to the nuclear deal. That agreement, negotiated by the Obama administra­tion and other world powers, rewarded Iran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief for curbing its nuclear program.

Critics, including Netanyahu and Trump, say Tehran got too much for too little. Among the remedies they’re advocating: removal of several of the deal’s clauses that allow Iran to gradually resume advanced nuclear work starting in 2024.

Trump has said he won’t renew U.S. waivers for sanctions when they next expire on May 12 unless European countries agree to a new deal that would force them to punish Tehran if the Iranians resume advanced nuclear work. He wants tougher inspection­s and penalties for Iranian missile testing. He also wants Europe to punish Iran’s support for the anti-Israeli militant group Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government.

Israeli officials are most immediatel­y concerned about Iran’s missile work. They want U.S. and European commitment­s to punish Iran for work on medium-range missiles capable of hitting Israel and Iran’s Arab rivals. The Europeans have balked, citing U.N. restrictio­ns that focus only on longer-range projectile­s. U.S. officials negotiatin­g with Britain, France and Germany appear to agree with the Europeans, prompting the Israeli concern.

Trump’s Mideast peace aspiration­s aren’t any more certain. After winning praise in Israel for his Jerusalem proclamati­on, he made clear the Israelis would have to make concession­s, too. He hasn’t said what those might be.

“You won one point, and you’ll give up some points later in the negotiatio­n, if there’s ever a negotiatio­n,” Trump said in January.

 ?? AP PHOTO/ODED BALILTY, FILE ?? FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Israel’s First lady Sara Netanyahu arrive for the Likud party primary elections at the in Jerusalem.
AP PHOTO/ODED BALILTY, FILE FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Israel’s First lady Sara Netanyahu arrive for the Likud party primary elections at the in Jerusalem.
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States