The press confuses Trump’s plan for peace, which plants the seeds for war.

As one who lives in Tel Aviv and has spent much-too-much time in my safe room (mamad) because Hamas missiles have been fired at me, I truly wish that Israel could find peace. I am afraid that it will not. In the last few days, there have been numerous stories in the press about how Trump’s new “peace proposal”, which is to be submitted to the United Nation’s Security  Council  (UNSC) for its approval, is important. All of these pundits are making a huge mistake: The proposal is NOT about bringing peace to Israel. It is about making Donald Trump richer. My fear is that rather than bringing Israel closer to peace, it may well bring Israel yet another war.

The underlying premise of the proposal assumes that there will be a reconstituted State of Palestine soon. For example, Trump’s latest proposal includes that the new Palestinian State will have a police force to be trained and vetted by the the United States, Egypt, and Jordan. Together the two states thus created will provide a “two state solution”  — one that is being shoved down Israel’s throat.

The new proposal could have a major affect on what the borders of Israel will be. The guts of the new proposal is the establishment of something to be called the International Security Force (ISF). The ISF would NOT be a United Nations peacekeeping force. Rather, it would be under the control of something called “The Board of Peace”. We do not, so far, know how the new Board of Peace will be constituted, how and by whom its members will be selected, or what powers it will have.

We do have a big clue. Paragraph 20 of Trump’s previous proposal to end the Israel/ Hamas conflict in Gaza (Trump’s Peace Plan), uses exactly the same name, “Board of Peace” as the new proposal does. The relevant portion of paragraph nine of the Trump’s Peace Plan provides that there will be the creation of  “a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of state to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair. This body will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. This body will call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment.”

Will the Board of Peace that is included in the proposal which is to be submitted to the UNSC be the same as the Board of Peace contained in Trump’s Peace Plan? So far, we do NOT know.

Most importantly, does the new proposal contain the same language which The Trump Peace Plan does that “This body will call on best INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS (CAPS MINE) to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment.” It would seem highly likely.

For a new State of Palestine to exist, it must have borders. The leading International Standard on this subject is contained in UNSC 2334, which in December, 2016 passed unanimously (the United States abstaining). The relevant portion of paragraph 1 of UNSCR 2334 states:

“[T]he establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM,  has no legal validity and CONSTITUTES A FLAGRANT VIOLATION UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW (CAPS MINE) and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.” This definition specifically calls for borders based on the 1967 armistice line, sometimes called the 1967 borders. In  Israel it is known as “the Green Line”

In short, the United Nations has already stated that everything beyond the Green Line constitutes a violation of International Law. That includes, among other things, The Old City of Jerusalem where Jews have lived for 3,000 years and the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple Mount, where the first and second temples once stood. The Old City has been annexed by Israel and is now, under Israeli law, part of Israel.

There can be little doubt that Trump’s Board of Peace would utilize the Green Line defining the borders of a new Palestinian State. Not only is UNSC 2334 based on the United Nation’s version of International Law, but it is also consistent with the The Arab League Peace Proposal, and the Saudi-French proposal, which is specifically referenced in Trump’s Peace Plan quoted above. I certainly hope that the people from Israel who are reviewing Trump’s latest proposal do not make the same mistake as the press and understand what dire consequences of the proposal could have for Israel.

There is another reason that the people reviewing the proposed peace plan should read the proposal carefully: the proposal is being made by Donald Trump. Donald Trump has only one real interest: to make as much money as possible. Trump’s son Eric has gone so far as to say, “My father sees one color – green.” Ever since Trump expressed a desire to turn Gaza into the “The Riviera of the Middle East”, he has made it clear that he views Gaza as a developer’s dream. For some reason he thought that Hamas would be NOT be able to keep him from making his millions saying that “something has to be done about Hamas.” Perhaps he erroneously thought that Qatar which has subsidized  Hamas  to over 1 Billion dollars since 2009, would take care of that.

Trump’s developer’s attitude is reflected in Trump’s peace proposal, which states in relevant part that “[T]he Board of peace will call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza  AND IS CONDUCIVE TO ATTRACTING INVESTMENT.”(CAPS MINE). The people who are reviewing the proposal for Israel should be concerned with Israel’s prospect of peace, something Trump, does NOT care about.

Trump is now attempting to characterize himself as a great peace maker, using the Israel/Hamas war in Gaza as an  example. In fact, his first peace proposal for Gaza, while obtaining a short cease fire, has been a terrible failure. Hamas is still very powerful in Gaza and growing. It not only refuses to hand over its weapons, it is also  using the cease fire to re-arm and solidify its position. Trump realizes this. His present attempt to use the United Nations as an alternative is, yet again, an attempt make more money as a developer.

This is a real shame. Under the UN charter, the UN’s primary purpose is to promote peace. It is hard for me to imagine that Israel will cede, among other things, the Old City to a new Palestinian Sate without a war which forces it to do so  — exactly the opposite of the UN’s object of peace.

So far, the press, even the Israeli press, has not dealt with the issues raised in this blog at all. I suspect that the reason for this is that the original Axios story failed to do so  and the other members of the press are simply following suit. We deserve better than we are getting from the press.