
The Middle East Peace Process: A Cruel Joke
By Mel Gurtov
     Three brief reports on January 25 concerning Israel-Palestine-US relations sum up the new situation created by Donald Trumpâs decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israelâs capital and move the US embassy there in the near future. First is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuâs absurd claim that there is âno substitute for the United States as honest broker.â His notion that âthere is no one elseâ who can deliver peace is disproven by years of fruitless, one-sided US diplomacy that have amply demonstrated Washingtonâs incapacity to broker a just peace.
Netanyahu followed up his comment with a predictable endorsement of Trumpâs âpeaceâ team led by Jared Kushner. âThe thing people donât realize is these people have made their mark in markets in real-estate,â he said. Shouldnât that background be a liability? Not to Netanyahu, who managed to rationalize Kushnerâs phantom peace plan by saying in one breath that while peacemaking âis not a real estate deal,â boundary questions comprise âreal estate elements and theyâre [the Kushner team]âI have to sayâvery creative. I wait to see what they put down, but I donât rule it out,â he added.
Well, Mr. Prime Minister, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict isnât like a real estate transaction. Itâs a conflict over two equally legitimate historic claims to sacred landâclaims that Israel, however, has backed by force and repressive social and economic policies in occupied territory. The Kushner business-first teamâs experiences are totally irrelevant to those matters. But in thinking otherwise, the prime minister is perfectly in line with the Trump administration, which preaches peace but, far from promoting a search for common ground, overwhelmingly favors the Israeli right wing, arms the Israeli military to the teeth, and, like Netanyahu, opposes pressing for a two-state solution.
When John Kerry was about to leave his post as President Obamaâs secretary of state, he made a searing speech highly critical of the Netanyahu administration, which he called âthe most right-wing in Israeli history with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements.â A belated indictment, to be sure; but contrast Kerryâs words with the resumption of unqualified US praise for Israel, such as Mike Pence displayed on his recent visit to Israel. Christian groups as well as Palestinian officials boycotted the visit in protest of the Jerusalem decision and the notion that only one side really wants peace. Listen to Ambassador Nikki Haley saying that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas lacks âcourage and will to seek real peace,â and that the US âwill not chase afterâ the Palestinians.
Such a chastisement of Israel will never pass the lips of a Trump official. Far from it, the administration will keep rewarding Israel for its intransigence while punishing the Palestinians for rejecting US pressure. At the just-concluded Davos conclave, for instance, Trump threatened that âmoneyâs not going to them [the Palestinians] unless they sit down and negotiate peace.â What peace? Abbasâ spokesman declared to CNN: âIf Jerusalem is off the table, then America is off the table as well.â
As of now, there is no honest broker and there is no peace processâfacts that prolong the Israeli Occupation and further undermine Palestinian hopes for internationally recognized statehood and a better life.