Making Sense of President Trump’s Plans

The U.S. President’s pragmatic approach and his out-of-the-box bold ideas may bring a positive change to both Israel and the Palestinians provided they will be translated into action plans carefully and through sensitive communication with all concerned stakeholders.

Trump, as always, is throwing around grand ideas without much elaboration. What is needed is a careful plan carried out in stages and enjoying the consent and approval of the relevant countries and the Arab world at large. To move forward, trust-building measures must complement bold political decisions, fostering a climate where solutions for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can become a reality. To break the enduring cycle of violence, a fresh approach and trajectory must be adopted, emphasizing gradual steps toward sustainable co-existence.

It is crucial to:

• Renew constructive collaboration between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on all fronts, particularly security but also civilian and economic matters. President Abbas vowed not to allow Hamas, which sacrificed the interests of the Palestinian people for Iran and caused destruction in the Gaza Strip, to replicate its actions in the West Bank.
• Demolishing terrorist spoilers or, at the very least, marginalising Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist factions, dismantling their weapons. Israel cannot afford another 7 October attack. With the exception of the Holocaust, 7 October 2023 was one of the bloodiest days in Jewish history. The attack sunk the Israeli nation into a collective trauma. The aim should be to incorporate Hamas into the PLO under specific conditions and with the PLO’s consent, as Hamas represents a major obstacle to peace.
• Insist on holding democratic elections in the West Bank, ensuring that only parties committed to peace, the recognition of Israel as a democratic Jewish state, and the fight against terror and violence are allowed to participate.
• Support into Gaza should be monitored closely. Qatar should not be allowed to continue delivering Hamas many millions of dollars.
• Israel and Egypt should work together so that the Philadelphi Corridor ceases to be a major transport way to equip Hamas and the Islamic Jihad with weapons and other means to wage their destructive campaign against Israel.

What Israel Needs to Do

• Bolster its security: By expanding its manpower as well as its defensive and offensive capabilities, its intelligence and command structure.
• Deescalate: Israel has fought on seven fronts, exhausting its manpower capabilities. Israeli leaders should look for non-violent solutions and containment of violence in the region via diplomacy and cooperation with other nations.
• Avoid Unilateral Actions: Engage in collaborative, inclusive decision-making to prevent further escalation.
• Engage in Dialogue: Initiate open discussions with Palestinian and Arab leaders as well as the U.S. administration on practical steps to reduce tensions.
• Develop a Concrete Plan: Collaborate with the Palestinian Authority and other parties to gradually reduce military presence in Gaza and the West Bank, ensuring security via cooperation is maintained during the transition.
• Expand Palestinian Autonomy: Increase self-governance and administrative authority for the PA in key areas in Gaza and the West Bank.

What the Palestinians Need to Do

• Avoid Unilateral Actions: Work collaboratively with international and Israeli counterparts.
• Accept Security Responsibilities: Gradually assume control over security operations from Israeli forces.
• Demonstrate Security Capabilities in fighting terrorism: Prove the PA’s ability to manage sensitive security responsibilities effectively in collaboration with Israel, Egypt, Jordan and other parties. Publicly and unequivocally declare that terrorism undermines Palestinian national aspirations for independence and statehood. These words should be supplemented by decisive deeds to prevent spoilers from doing what they know best: spoil. Terrorism sustains and justifies the occupation; combating it is critical to achieving independence.
• Engage in Dialogue: Open discussions with Israeli and U.S. administrations to address spoilers and obstacles to peace.
• Develop a Shared Plan: Collaborate with Israel, the U.S. and Arab countries on a phased plan for the rebuilding of Gaza and transferring responsibilities to the PA.
• Expand Autonomy Transparently: Strengthen PA governance with accountability and transparency to build trust.

The Role of the United States

The U.S. has a pivotal role in mediating peace efforts, learning from past successes and failures.

• Draw Lessons from History: Reflect on successful peace negotiations, such as the 1970s Israel-Egypt agreements, and study both positive experiences and missteps, including the autonomy plan proposed by Menachem Begin and the lessons from Camp David 2000.
• Implement Incremental, Doable Plans: Relocating the entire population of Gaza is a pipedream. Drawing a scheme of relocating Gazans who wish to relocate to other countries that wish to accept them on the basis of family unification and humanitarian aid, with consent and without coercion is much more sensible.
• Foster Trust-Building Initiatives: Encourage actions that reduce friction and tension while laying the groundwork for equitable coexistence.
• Encourage Israel’s integration into the Middle East, undermining attempts to delegitimise Israel, and pushing the parties to address the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

By working collaboratively and incrementally, Israel, the Palestinians, and the United States can chart a new course toward a future of peace and security for both peoples.  President Trump has the potential to ignite a sense of urgency in Israel and Palestine, fostering trust, goodwill, and security between the two sides. The United States possesses the resources and influence to play a pivotal role by improving economic conditions for Palestinians, enhancing security for both parties and enforcing a policy of zero tolerance for all forms of violence. The U.S. can also pressure Israel to halt the expansion of settlements, provide security guarantees that enable the dismantling of checkpoints, and ease the daily lives of Palestinian civilians. Furthermore, the international community must be engaged in this trust-building process to ensure a collaborative and sustainable approach. Rebuilding Gaza may take a generation. A well-considered and well-executed plan is required.

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Raphael Cohen-Almagor received his doctorate from the University of Oxford. He is Chair in Politics, Founding Director of the Middle East Study Centre (MESC), University of Hull; Fellow at The Institute for Advanced Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Global Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS), Washington DC, and President of The Association for Israel Studies (AIS). Raphael was the Yitzhak Rabin-Fulbright Visiting Professor at UCLA School of Law and Department of Communication; Visiting Professor at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University; Fellow at WWICS (twice); Distinguished Visiting Professor to the Faculty of Laws, University College London, and The 2023 Olof Palme Visiting Professor, Lund University, Sweden.

Raphael is the author of hundreds of publications, including many books, most recently Confronting the Internet’s Dark Side (2015, Cambridge University Press), Just, Reasonable Multiculturalism (2021, CUP), and The Republic, Secularism and Security: France versus the Burqa and the Niqab (2022, Springer) and Resolving the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict: A Critical Study of Peace Mediation, Facilitation and Negotiations between Israel and the PLO (forthcoming CUP).