What To Do When Trump’s Peace Plan Fails
Israel Must Choose: Give The Palestinians A State — Or Equality
By Sam Bahour and Tony Klug
Suppose President Trump’s long-awaited “ Deal of the Century “ turns out to be the “flop of the century.” Frankly, this is the most likely outcome since its architects have no real feel for or understanding of the conflict and what is needed to resolve it. After the initial hype, where would its eventual failure leave us?
The principal parties would of course know all along that the putative deal is doomed and their main aim would be to avoid being held responsible for its disintegration. All their manoeuvrings would be designed to fix the blame on the other side. Attempts to indict and isolate each other would gather pace and violence — already increasing — might return with a vengeance. The toxins let loose will inevitably have global spillover.
For some twenty-six years, process has trumped outcome, but it is now in danger of being out-trumped itself — by none other than Trump himself — by the total collapse of the only internationally recognized paradigm for a solution to the conflict, a Palestinian state alongside the Israeli state, broadly along the pre-1967 borders.
