WASHINGTON – The Trump administration’s peace plan did not get a significant amount of coverage in the American press in the last couple of days. Still, it is going to be an important foreign affairs issue during the 2020 elections. The fact that the plan offers the Palestinians four years to come to the table assures that Trump’s vision to the Middle East will be a meaningful part of President Trump’s reelection campaign. Endorsed by Christian United for Israel (CUFI), the Republican Jewish Coalition and many other prominent figures in the Israeli and American right, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (as well as his centrist rival, Benny Gantz), and welcomed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the plan would allow Trump to campaign on a promise of trying to bring peace to the Middle East without compromising on Israel’s security. Democrats, on the other hand, rushed to reject the plan, setting the stage for confrontation about the future of the Middle East, primarily around a future move to apply Israeli law to the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Former vice president and democratic hopeful, Joe Biden, dismissed that plan as “a political stunt that could spark unilateral moves to annex territory and set back peace even more.” Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted that any peace agreement “must end the Israeli occupation and enable Palestinian self-determination in an independent state of their own alongside a secure Israel.” “Trump’s so-called ‘peace deal’ doesn’t come close and will only perpetuate the conflict. It is unacceptable,” he added. Former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, voiced a similar message. “Peace requires both parties at the table. Not a political green light to the leader of one for unilateral annexation,” he said. Senator Elizabeth Warren was critical of all and explicitly promised to reverse American recognition of the settlements if elected. “Trump’s “peace plan” is a rubber stamp for annexation and offers no chance for a real Palestinian state,” she tweeted. “Releasing a plan without negotiating with Palestinians isn’t diplomacy, it’s a sham. I will oppose unilateral annexation in any form—and reverse any policy that supports it.” It appears as if Warren’s statement about a future retraction of the US recognition is opening a new debate among Democrats, similar to the public discussion they had at the J Street conference about a possible cut of the military assistance to Israel. Both Republicans and Democrats will try to make a case for their respective voters that the 2020 elections cycle is crucial since, in 2024, it would supposedly be too late to reverse a decision of such recognition. Therefore, the elections this upcoming November might shape the reality in the Middle East for decades to come.
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