by Alex Joffe
BESA Center Perspectives
February 4, 2020
„Cutting Gordian Knots is a signature of the Trump administration, and the long-rumored „
Deal of the Century“ is no exception. At its core, the plan explicitly acknowledges reality: the Palestinians are losing the conflict, Israel will not return to the 1949 armistice lines, there will be no evacuation of the settlement blocs, and there is no Palestinian „right of return.“
As historian Martin Kramer points out, the plan is not so much about peace as about partition. In that sense, the break it represents from the past 50 years of „peace processing“ is profound. Equally striking is the plan’s reception. For all its vagaries, only a small handful of countries and entities, namely the Palestinian Authority (PA), Turkey, and Iran, have spoken out bitterly against it, with the Arab League predictably (yet hesitatingly) following suit. Far more voices—including most individual Arab and European states—have expressed cautious support.“ (…)