It went almost unnoticed in Washington, but last week Israel’s political leaders decided to hand President Trump the power to destroy the prospect of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict once and for all. After three inconclusive Israeli elections, long-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief opponent, Benny Gantz, finally agreed last Monday to form a government together, citing the urgent need to face the covid-19 pandemic. But there is onehuge exception: Starting July 1, Netanyahu, who will remain prime minister, will be allowed to seek a vote by his cabinet or the parliament on Israel’s annexation of more than 30 percent oftheWest Bank, where the majority of the would-be Palestinian state’s population lives. In theory, the land grab is legitimized by the Middle East “peace plan” Trump released in January, which calls for the creation of a weakPalestinian state on the chopped-up remains of the territory. In practice, if Israeli annexation goes forward without Palestinian or Arab agreement, it will not only kill Trump’s plan; it will make a two-state settlement impossible. According to David Makovsky, a former State Department analyst now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Netanyahu perceives a “historic opportunity to fulfill long-term territorial goals.” It’s probably for that reason that he agreed to the new government; it’s certainly the cause of his insistence on the July 1 date, which, Makovskypoints out, hedges against the risk that Trump will lose the presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden, who would certainly oppose annexation. Gallery: A history of the Middle East peace process (DeutscheWelle) Trump’s motivation is transparent: In this election year, he wishes to galvanize the evangelical Christians and minority of U.S. Jews who support a “greater Israel,” while casting Democrats who disagree as anti-Zionist.
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