Trump’s peace push a difficult path
President’s optimism runs into the reality of deep divisions
President Trump JERUSALEM said Tuesday that Israelis and Palestinians are ready to “reach for peace” in their decades-long conflict and that he is personally committed to achieving what he calls “the ultimate deal.”
But after a 28-hour stop in Israel that included separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Trump left Jerusalem without putting forward any specific proposals, road maps or next steps for that peace to happen. He sidestepped the question of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory, something he and President Obama have both said do not help the peace process.
And Trump also left one of his campaign promises — a pledge to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — unfulfilled.
Despite the professed opti- mism for prospects for peace, there were signs even during Trump’s visit that deep divisions remain between the two sides.
Even Trump’s schedule betrayed the difficulty in bringing the two sides together. Unable to bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the same table, he gave warm greetings to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their frequent public appearances together.
U.S. law prohibits the Trump administration from negotiating with the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem, which might lend legitimacy to its claim on the city as its capital. After taking his motorcade 6 miles to Bethlehem to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Trump stood stone-faced while Abbas called him “your excellency” and repeated his negotiating points.
Abbas drew Trump’s attention to a protest camp at the Church of the Nativity in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike. “Their demands are humane and just,” he said.
“Our fundamental problem is with the occupation and settlements, and failure of Israel to recognize the state of Palestine in the same way we recognize it, which undermines the realization of the two-state solution,” Abbas said. “The problem is not between us and Judaism. It’s between us and occupation.”
But Trump, who signed an agreement Sunday with Arab leaders to crack down on financial support for terrorism at a summit in Saudi Arabia, suggested Abbas needs to take a harder line on the so-called Martyrs Fund that provides payments to families of Palestinians killed or imprisoned for attacking Israelis.
“It’s so interesting that our meeting took place on this very horrible morning of death to innocent young people,” Trump said, referring to Monday night’s concert bombing in Manchester, England. “Peace can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded and even rewarded.”
Later, introducing Trump at an appearance at the Israel Museum, Netanyahu made that same point as the death toll from the bombing at an Ariana Grande concert climbed to 22 and the Islamic State claimed responsibility.
“I hope this heralds a real change, because if the (Manchester) attacker had been Palestinian and the victims had been Israeli children, the suicide bomber’s family would have received a stipend from the Palestinian authority,” he said.
Every president since Richard Nixon has tried to bring about a permanent peace agreement, but Trump’s attempts have been particularly ambitious for a firstterm president struggling to get significant legislation passed at home and already dealing with multiple foreign policy crises, including war in Syria, North Korea’s latest provocations and threats from the Islamic State.
“We know peace is possible if we put aside the pain and disagreements of the past and commit together to finally resolving this crisis,” he said. “With determination, compromise and the belief that peace is possible, Israelis and Palestinians can make a deal.”