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Opinion | Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ Is Destroying Israel
On Saturday, the White House released the economic part of their “deal of the century” to bring peace to Israelis and Palestinians. In putting a call for economic stimulus before a plan to end Israel’s occupation — the cause of our economic strife — it was a classical move of putting the cart before the horse, and it was as embarrassing as expected.
The attempt to bribe us out of our right to self-determination was destined to fail. But the economic plan also revealed something that has been less obvious: the Trump Administration with its misbegotten deal is not only bad for Palestinians. It’s catastrophic for Israel.
It’s ironic because we’re used to thinking of the Trump Administration as pro-Israel. What else could you possibly call an administration that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and asks for nothing in return? Or that declares the Golan Heights to be part of Israel to give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a campaign boost? Or that systematically cancels US funding to the Palestinians?
But the truth is, while all of these one-sided freebies appear pro-Israel, Trump’s Middle East team — helmed by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, his bankruptcy lawyer David Friedman, and another of Trump’s lawyers, Jason Greenblatt — is destroying Israel. And anyone who cares for Israel…
