Trump’s lackeys are praising a Middle East peace plan partly structured by Jared Kushner. However, can there really be peace in the region if Palestinian leader and the Palestinian people are not included?

“They did not speak with any of us,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told The Hill.

“We do not speak to them. They continue reading Netanyahu’s scripts,” he added, relating the feeling among Palestinians that the administration is biased toward the Israeli prime minister.

“They think they can dictate to us,” Erekat said. “No way.”

Many politicos in Israel and the United States are calling the meeting between Trump, Benny Gantz, and Benjamin Netanyahu, which is expected to take place in Washington this week, a political stunt.

“The timing is very suspect,” said David Makovsky, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who worked on the peace process as a State Department official in the Obama administration. “It’s the very day that Netanyahu is facing the start of a Knesset proceeding that will decide if he has immunity in the face of three corruption indictments. That cannot be coincidental.”

American diplomats agree and believe this is merely another opportunity for Trump’s attempt to distract the attention from his impeachment trial.

“It’s a political stunt. I just don’t see what they’re going to be able to talk about because the Palestinians have already dismissed it,” said one former State Department official who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations. “It’s probably just going to be another effort to highlight and show how committed to Israeli security the administration is and how it’s going to shape its conception of a peace process that’s all about securing the state of Israel.”

Let’s get to the facts. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s failures at the State Department have created morale problems and the resignation of 30 percent of all experienced diplomats. This administration is void of talented negotiators who are desperately needed in negotiations not only with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, but also with the leaders of North Korea and Iran. Trump’s current foreign policy is abysmal. His only tactic is to attempt bullying his adversaries.

Some of the most experienced diplomats in the world have attempted to create peace between the people of Israel and the Palestinians. Netanyahu has been the biggest problem. He has refused to talk to Palestinian leaders for more than a decade.

Personally, I believe that until the United States and Israel agree to Palestinian statehood there will never be lasting peace in the region. The vast majority of members in the United Nation agree that the time has come for the recognition of a Palestinian State. They have been waiting since 1948.

Netanyahu has resisted the idea and continues to “grab land” along the West Bank. The problem is that neither Netanyahu nor the Trump administration are assessing the situation logically. Anger, hatred, and violence will continue to be the norm in the region until a sensible solution is achieved. I doubt that the Trump administration’s “plan” will be agreed to by Palestinian leaders.

“The Truth Lives Here”

Op-ed by James Turnage

SOURCE

Photo courtesy of StateOfIsrael

My eight novels are now available on Amazon; the Kindle app is a free download; CLICK HERE