Trump was the rare American president who actually put out a detailed plan for coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. If that Trump revives that initiative in 2025, he could be remembered as the president who preserved Israel as a Jewish democracy and helped to securely birth a Palestinian state alongside it.
Jared Kushner addressing the media from Rabat Morocco in 2020 (TOI)
How many people would burst out in hysterical laughter at this comment? Especially after reading the following line that preceded it
Trump who, with his son-in-law Jared Kushner, crafted and released the most detailed plan for a two-state solution since Bill Clinton’s administration…
Those who are still laughing might be surprised at who said it. Someone I consider to be one of the biggest blowhards in the mainstream media, New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman. Who never misses an opportunity to criticize anyone that does not toe his anti settlement pro Palestinian state policy. A man whose hate of the Israeli Prime Minister permeates every column he has ever written on the subject of Israel since Netanyahu’s rise to power.
Although he may be a blowhard, I think he is actually right this time. At least in theory. Jared Kushner , the man Trump haters love to call stupid, is in fact the architect of the only peace plan that preserves Israel as a secure Jewish democracy while giving Palestinians the ability to govern themselves.
Friedman described the plan as follows:
(The) plan for a two-state solution that he put out in January 2020, titled “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People... (is) still the only detailed peace map that any president has publicly presented to create two states since the Clinton parameters, set out by Clinton 24 years ago.
The plan offered Israel the right to annex roughly 30 percent of the West Bank where a majority of Jewish settlers reside, with the remainder going for a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Trump proposed that Gaza would be expanded with land from Israel’s Negev Desert to compensate Palestinians for part of the territory they would relinquish from the West Bank...
And Trump proposed that Gaza and the West Bank be connected by a combination of aboveground roads and tunnels — but only after Hamas is removed from leadership in Gaza, as he insisted back then. The Palestinian capital would be on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
That plan was supported by Prime Minister Netanyahu. I would of course enthusiastically support such a plan – if it would end the violence and result in peaceful relations between the two peoples. As I have said many times in the past, I would have even supported a Palestinian state on the entire West Bank ala Oslo if it would have given Israel and Palestinians that kind of peace.
To be absolutely clear, this does not mean that I don’t believe that all of biblical Israel doesn’t belong to the Jewish people. Of course it does. However, giving up land in exchange for a real peace that would save countless Jewish lives is something I heartily support. In any event, we will eventually get that land back in messianic times.
I am not alone in feeling that way. The undisputed leader of the Charedi world in his time, Rav Eliezer Menachem Mann Shach was recently attributed the following opinion in the Times of Israel:
He was bitterly opposed to settlements in the West Bank, which he saw as incitement against Gentiles that endangered Jews, and he supported land-for-peace initiatives.
I disagreed with Rav Shach about some very important issues. But on this, we were one.
The problem with Freidman’s hopeful thoughts about a possible direction Trump might take in this regard - is actually cited by Freidman himself:
Trump’s plan would have to change because of the fallout from Oct. 7. It has zero possibility of being accepted as is from either side.
That may be the understatement of the century. I do not see any kind of Palestinian state being agreed to that would bring peace to the region. October 7th exposed the reality of how virtually all Palestinians feel about a Jewish state. They all want it gone. And they do not want to be rid of Hamas. They support Hamas and were quite happy with what happened on October 7th.
Furthermore, a key part of that plan is getting rid of Hamas. That has proven to be virtually impossible. Israel has been trying to do that for well over a year now and has paid a high public relations price for that. There have been increasing accusations of genocide being thrown at Israel by, the UN, European leaders, and recently Pope Francis.
The Trump plan was a non starter when it was proposed and after the Hamas massacre of October 7th and the over 40,000 Palestinian ‘civilians’ s being killed over the past year, I don’t think anything remotely close to it will be considered by either side. The creation of a Palestinian state is no longer possible if Israel is to survive. Not as long as Iran and radical Islam are around. And they aren’t going anywhere. Unless Israel sends them there.
There is no making peace with pure evil. So for now, the only option for Israel is to continue their pursuit of removing the evil from their midst. Once Trump re-occupies the Oval Office my hope is that he will give Israel the kind green light and wherewithal they need to do it – and do it quickly. May it be God’s will. Only then can we begin to talk about what happens next.
That being said, the following are my thoughts about a possible scenario for what could happen then. With a complete victory, and the backing of the US under Trump, Israel can dictate the terms of peace in the region. Like any victor in war would. The key to the future will be for Israel to be a benevolent victor (as was the US in West Germany after their victory in WWII). A Marshall Plan of sorts would be devised whereby the US would encourage wealthy Arab Gulf states to rebuild Gaza and allow Palestinians self governance - free of Hamas or any Iranian influences.