Trump and Netanyahu just sold Israel out
Everyone in Israel is celebrating the cease fire in Gaza and the return of roughly 20 live hostages (as well numerous dead bodies) who have been held by Hamas for over two years. I am not among them.
I believe that both Trump and Netanyahu have sold out Israel because of their tragic flaws. Trump seems to have two of them. The lesser of these two evils is that he has an enormous ego which is always in need of feeding. At the moment, Trump is being characterized as a peacemaker. He is unabashed in claiming that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, something which would be massive fodder for his out-of-control ego.
His second tragic flaw is even more important to him: he wants to get lots and lots of money. The first paragraph of the Trump Peace Plan provides that Gaza will become “a deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors.” This will permit Trump to turn Gaza into what he calls, “The Riviera of the Middle East.” That will require a major investment by developers; Trump stands to make make millions of dollars out of this deal.
Netanyahu’s tragic flaw, while miniscule compared to Trumps’, is that he will do almost anything to get re-elected. Here in Israel, there are likely to be elections soon. Netanyahu has already announced publicly that he intends to run for re-election. Netanyahu has also said that everybody loves him as a result of the Trump Peace Plan which he helped write. There can be little doubt that Netanyahu believes that this love will turn into votes in the next election.
While Netanyahu and Trump are reveling in the Trump Peace Plan, neither man bothers to point out the terrible damage which the plan will cause to Israel. Under Trump’s plan, a new State of Palestine will be created using the 1967 borders (“the Green Line”) as the border between the new State of Palestine and Israel.
According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Information Center, Hamas refers to the invasion of Israeli troops into Gaza in 2003 as “The Sword of the Battle of Jerusalem.” My initial thought when I read this was why would Hamas view a war which has taken place in Gaza as a war about Jerusalem? I just dismissed the idea as absurd; most Israelis look at the war as one in Gaza. Then I began to think about it and realized that there is a rationale for Hamas’ characterization of the war. Under the proposed Trump plan, there are, according to the press, three phases. The first involves the exchange of prisoners. Clearly, Hamas has won this phase. In return for Hamas turning over roughly 20 live hostages (together with numerous dead bodies) Hamas is to receive more than 2,000 live prisoners in addition to hundreds of live prisoners who are serving life sentences in Israeli prisons. While this is a clear victory for Hamas, it does NOT explain why the battle in Gaza constitutes a battle for Jerusalem.
Unfortunately, phase 2 of the Trump Peace Plan does. Until the 19th century, Jerusalem was tiny. It was only about one square kilometer in size and was surrounded by a wall which was built centuries ago. Today, the area within those walls is known as Jerusalem’s “Old City”. The Old City includes almost all of key religious sites in Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, where the first and second Temples once stood, as well as the Dome of the Rock with its golden dome and Al Aqsa Mosque. What Jews call, “The Temple Mount” is commonly called “Al Aqsa” by Arabs, including Hamas.
During the 19th century, the Old City became too small for the growing population and many Jews began moving west. Today, most of Jerusalem lies to the west of the Old City. That is, in large part, because at the end of the 1948 war, Israel agreed that Jordan could control all of the area to the Jordanian side of the Green Line. Today, when Hamas trains its youth, it does NOT talk about recovering Jerusalem. It talks about recovering “Al Aqsa”. In order to recover Al Aqsa, Hamas does NOT need to capture all of Jerusalem. It only needs to recover that part of Jerusalem which is beyond the Green Line.
Trump’s proposed “Peace Plan” accomplishes this Hamas objective. The whole peace plan is based upon the establishment of two states: Israel and a new Palestinian State. That is music to the ears of The United Nations, the Democrats in the United States, the members of The Arab League, as well as the numerous countries, including France, which have either already recognized or threaten to recognize a Palestinian State. The UN’s support for a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders is particularly nefarious. The 2016 United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 calls for a Palestinian State based on the 1967 borders. It calls Israel’s occupation of everything on the Jordanian side of the Green Line “a flagrant violation under international law. ”
Article 9 of Trump’s Peace Plan creates a “Board of Peace”, headed by Trump himself. The Board of Peace is given the power to determine the borders of the new State of Palestine, using the “best international standards”. When UNSCR 2334, the Arab peace plan, and the numerous countries which have recognized the State of Palestine are considered, the “best international standards”” would require that the Green Line be the border of the new Palestinian State.
If the Board of Peace does so, Hamas will certainly have won its battle of Jerusalem and Israel will have lost it BIG TIME. Thousands of Jews who believe that they live in Israel, will now live in the new State of Palestine. That includes the areas known as Ma’ale Adumim, Gush Etzion, and Gilo, where, together, over 100,000 Jews live. Moreover, Israel will also lose Jerusalem’s Old City where Jews have lived for 3,000 years and which contains the most holy site in Judaism: The Temple Mount.
Once it became clear to me that Trump’s plan will create a Palestinian State that uses the Green Line as its border, I realized that the plan should NOT enhance Netanyahu’s chances of being re-elected. Nor should it help feed Trump’s ego, as he will not be viewed as a peace maker as he is today.
Trump’s attack on democracy in the United States renders him a fascist. Giving Donald Trump, who cares only about money and power, a Nobel Peace Prize would be like having given Neville Chamberlain the Nobel Peace Prize in 1939 for obtaining “peace in our time” after negotiating with Adolph Hitler, the very model of a modern fascist.
