Trump peace plan

President Donald Trump formally unveiled a plan to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in a White House press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 28 January 2020.

The proposed areas for the Palestinian capital have been described as "grim neighborhoods" and are separated from Jerusalem proper by the Israeli West Bank barrier.

The plan says that critical recommendations are disputed both as to their meaning and legal effect and have enabled political leaders to avoid addressing the complexities of the conflict rather than allowing a realistic path to peace.

[36] Development of the plan began in November 2017, led by Kushner, chief negotiator Jason Greenblatt, deputy national security adviser Dina Powell, and ambassador David Friedman.

[37] Kushner, a property developer married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, had no prior experience of diplomacy,[38][39] asked the parties not to talk about history, and reportedly never discussed his plan with the Palestinians.

[40] According to Peter Beinart of Jewish Currents, "another key participant in drafting the proposal was David Friedman, who became Trump's ambassador to Israel after representing his bankrupt casinos.

"[41] He reportedly had close ties to the Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, compared Jewish American critics of Israel to collaborators with Nazism and was skeptical about the idea that Palestinians should have a state.

[45] Trump reacted by ending both bilateral aid for Palestinians and contributions for UNRWA,[2][46] citing the PA's refusal to take part in the administration's peace initiative.

[48] In February 2019, Kushner and his personal adviser Berkowitz flew to Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Saudi Arabia in order to unveil their closely guarded plan.

[49] Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Lolwah Al Khater gave no indication that the meeting had provided much detail regarding the political plan.

[49] Jason Greenblatt, who played an important role in Trump's 25 March 2019 recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel, was thereafter shunned by the Palestinian authority.

The Palestinians wanted to draw the border as close to Tel Aviv as the George Washington Bridge was to the Trump Tower, and an enduring peace was as probable as "a hole-in-one through a brick wall".

[59] According to Bess Levin, writing for Vanity Fair, the whole conference was 'panned by experts', citing one who described it as "the Monty Python sketch of Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives".

[28] These were (1) recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital on 6 December 2017 and (2) on 18 November 2019 stating that Jewish settlements in the West Bank were consistent with international law.

[71] The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) accused the United States of trying to sell a "mirage of economic prosperity" that would in reality "only perpetuate the Palestinians' captivity".

"[75] Robert Malley, director of the International Crisis Group and a leading Middle East expert in former U.S. administrations, stated: "Strip away the domestic and Israeli political considerations that determined the timing of the plan's release, and the message to the Palestinians, boiled down to its essence, is: You've lost, get over it.

"[80] The next day, January 30, Kushner said Washington wants Israel to wait until after its 2 March election before making any moves towards settlement annexation in the West Bank.

The settler leader said a senior U.S. official told them that if the Palestinians did not agree to the plan within 48 hours, Israel would be permitted to annex more than 30 percent of the West Bank.

[83] Responding to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing on 8 February that his government had begun to draw up maps of land in the occupied West Bank, in accordance with U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed peace plan, Ambassador Friedman indicated that "Any unilateral action in advance of the completion of the committee process endangers the plan and American recognition.

"[88] On April 30, reacting to the agreement, representatives of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Finland and the EU envoy registered a formal protest.

"[91][92] At a video meeting of the United Nations Security Council on 20 May 2020, UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov said that Israel must abandon its threat to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, saying such a plan would be a serious violation of international law that would "close the door to a renewal of negotiations.

[95][96] At a video meeting of the United Nations Security Council on 24 June 2020 UN secretary general, António Guterres, called on the Israeli government "to abandon its annexation plans" describing the proposed annex as a "watershed moment" that will constitute a "most serious violation of international law" that if implemented would "grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution and undercut the possibilities of a renewal of negotiations".

[100] On June 29, 2020, it was revealed that Netanyahu's coalition partner Benny Gantz would not accept the proposed July 1, 2020 deadline to start annexing the West Bank.

[102] The plan puts the Palestinians on probation, establishing a set of conditions they must meet and adopting Netanyahu's view that a shrunken Palestinian entity will be a state in name only; Israel will control of its borders, air space, electro-magnetic spectrum, foreign policy and security;[103] it proposes a State of Palestine with a capital on the outskirts of East Jerusalem[104] which will not be established up to four years into the execution of the plan.

[136] According to François Dubuisson, designating such a site as Jerusalem involves a 'semantic game',[28] a fragmented entity across several neighborhoods that are miles apart from each other, separated by Israeli communities and major roads, and share little in common.

[137][138] Abu Dis is variously described as a 'decrepit, lawless enclave' [138] or a grim neighbourhood,[38] with 'a single main street and higgledy-piggledy alleys shooting off at strange angles'[137] abutting a hulking concrete separation barrier, on the other side of which lies Jerusalem and its distant Holy Sites.

[154] The proposal includes a number of specific projects, including construction of a travel corridor that would cross Israel to link the West Bank and Gaza with a highway and possibly a rail line,[62] vast expansion of border crossings,[154] power plant upgrades, infrastructure improvements to boost tourism, career counseling and job placement service, re-building and modernizing Palestinian hospitals and health clinics,[153] upgrading cargo terminals and building special access roads to reduce the time and costs of cross-border trade and travel,[155] creation of a modern database to register land ownership,[155] improving the potable water supply and waste water treatment,[155] and establishing a new Palestinian university in the global top 150.

[7][8] On 23 February 2020, Pope Francis said at a meeting of bishops from all countries in the Mediterranean basin "Nor can we overlook the still unresolved conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, with the danger of inequitable solutions and, hence, a prelude to new crises.

[203] According to Nathan Thrall, Middle East analyst for the International Crisis Group, both Clinton's and the subsequent Trump plan confine a Palestinian majority to an area less than a quarter of Mandate Palestine.

[19] For Rashid Khalidi, rather than being a new deal for the 21st century, Trump's plan follows a much older colonial pattern set long ago by Great Britain and pursued by the United States.