[Published 30 November 2020]
United Nations Secretary-General Guterres is not remotely interested in pursuing Trump’s Peace to Prosperity Vision— which calls for Israeli sovereignty to be extended to about 30% of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) — with an independent demilitarized Palestinian Arab State being established in the remaining 70% and Gaza (Peace Plan).
Guterres remains committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis resolving the conflict:
“in line with relevant UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements in pursuit of the vision of two states.”Guterres will be exhorting international support for UNSC Resolution 2334 — which Obama and Biden shamefully failed to veto on December 23, 2016 — abstaining instead — as they were departing the White House.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) seemingly does not have any interest in Trump’s Peace Plan — a PLO official recently declaring:
“We have received many positive messages from the Biden team in the past few days. We are looking forward to opening a new page with the Biden administration after the damage caused by the Trump administration.”
The PLO refused to negotiate with Israel on Trump’s Peace Plan even before its details were published last January. Biden also seems certain to trash Trump’s Peace Plan if elected America’s next President.
The Times of Israel reports:
“According to Israeli political sources, Biden’s team intends to reinstate negotiations between Israel and the PLO on the basis of the long-mordant Oslo accords. The sources claim Biden is even taking Oslo mediator Dennis Ross out of cold storage for that purpose. Ross’s longtime deputy Aaron David Miller penned an op-ed in Canada’s National Post this week where he argued that President Trump has been bad for Israel and good for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”Another Biden favourite presently in cold storage — failed negotiator Martin Indyk — wrote this week:
“The first priority is to repair the damage wrought by the Trump administration. Trump’s “deal” should be taken off the table when he departs the White House. Relations should be restored with the PLO and the Palestinian Authority, which were severed in the wake of Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. U.S. aid to projects that provide vital support to the Palestinian people should be revived. The U.S. Embassy should stay in Jerusalem, Israel’s designated capital, but Biden should declare that he also recognizes that Palestinians aspire to have the capital of their state in East Jerusalem”Replacing negotiations on Trump’s detailed territorial plan of proposed subdivision with failed negotiations that have gone nowhere over the last 25 years is a recipe for disaster.
Trump’s options for progressing his Peace Plan and thwarting its detractors could include:
Trump — being Trump — is not going to let his Peace Plan be buried by the UN, PLO and Biden.
- Releasing the map that has been prepared by the joint American-Israel Mapping Committee showing the precise areas set aside for Israel and a Palestinian Arab state
- Declaring Israel is entitled to extend sovereignty in the Israel-designated area of the map at any time Israel deems appropriate
- Asserting that if the area designated for a Palestinian Arab state on the map is not accepted—then that area should remain as an Arab enclave to be administered by Hamas and the PLO as presently exists—or administered by Jordan and Egypt as the last sovereign Arab States to occupy Gaza and Judea and Samaria between 1948 and 1967.
Author’s note: The cartoon—commissioned exclusively for this article—is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators – whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog
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