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Trump’s peace plan — the components

Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint statement at the White House, Jan. 28, 2020. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited Middle East peace plan on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined Trump at a news conference and compared it to President Harry Truman’s recognition of the State of Israel in 1948.

In the most basic sense, the plan is a two-state solution. The text of the plan was released in full, 181 pages.

Here’s a breakdown of the plan’s most basic components.

Two states

At its core, the plan proposes a two-state solution, ideally envisioning an autonomous Palestinian state. This line of thinking, endorsed by every US president dating back to Bill Clinton in the 1990s, has lost some support since Trump took office.

US Ambassador David Friedman stressed in a phone call with reporters following the news conference that, Israel would retain security control over all the land that would include a Palestinian state.

Palestinians would have their own system of government throughout their state, while Israeli forces would patrol and exert their will in the area — as Friedman described it, “from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.”

That is essentially how Israeli soldiers act now: They are not a constant presence in Palestinian areas, but they move in and out as they deem necessary for security purposes.

The plan would allow Palestinians to move freely between the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians currently cannot move between the two areas without Israeli approval, which is rarely granted. Family members and others would no longer be separated as they are now.

Borders for a Palestinian state

The plan also contains something that past US proposals haven’t included: a specific map that delineates what the potential Israeli and Palestinian state borders would be.

The proposed Palestinian state would consist of most of the West Bank (about 80%, according to estimates), the mostly undeveloped territory between Jerusalem and Jordan, and Gaza.

The plan also leaves the possibility of later adding the so-called “Triangle” — a collection of Arab towns adjacent to the West Bank but part of Israel proper — to a Palestinian state, if both parties agree.

Parts of the West Bank would become officially recognized Israeli territory.

This includes all of the Israeli settlements that are dotted throughout the potential future Palestinian state, as well as the Jordan Valley, the strategically important swath of land that Israel has largely controlled since the Six Day War in 1967.

Four-year time frame

The plan gives the Israelis and Palestinians four years to accept these borders.

Netanyahu announced at Tuesday’s news conference that during that time, Israel will freeze any new settlement construction that would encroach on the Palestinian state outlined in the peace plan.

However, he also said that Israel will look to immediately “apply its laws” to existing settlements and the Jordan Valley, whether or not the Palestinians signal that they will buy into the US proposal.

Netanyahu was careful not to use the word “annex” in his remarks this week, preferring the “apply its law” usage.

Hamas has to go

Another key part of the plan involves the dismantling of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two Palestinian groups seen as terrorists by a large part of the international community. Hamas currently governs Gaza with an iron fist, so removing it would significantly change the coastal strip.

Palestinian officials also would have to agree to stop its policy of paying the families of terrorists who attack Israelis.

High-speed rail and other incentives

The plan also aims to create a high-speed rail connection between the West Bank and Gaza, two Palestinian areas that feel physically sequestered because of Israeli security needs.

The “Trump Economic Plan” portion of the document says that the accord has the “potential to facilitate more than $50 billion of investment over ten years.”

It doesn’t get into detail about where that would come from, but it likely means from the US and a coalition of Arab states that support the plan.

Slim chances of success

At least at this point, the plan’s chance of success — success meaning that the Palestinians will agree to it — is close to nil.

That’s because the mere release of this plan is a big win for Netanyahu and the mainstream Israeli right. It codifies the full US support of Israel’s eventual annexation of the West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley, which Israel says is both vital to its security and part of its rightful ancestral territory.

It also keeps security control of both states — essentially everything from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean — under Israel’s purview.

It is unclear how the proposed settlement freeze will play among Israeli settlers.

Since Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s political rival, has dismissed the idea of governing with Netanyahu under a unity coalition and rotating prime minister, it’s notable that he has wholeheartedly endorsed the plan at least according to Trump.

The proposed lack of security control will be seen as a deal breaker, and the Israeli West Bank settlements present all kinds of complications.

But even if the Palestinians completely reject the plan, could it jump-start a new series of talks between Netanyahu and PA President Mahmoud Abbas? We’ll have to wait and see.




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