If there was ever any doubt that the Trump-Netanyahu “peace plan” was anything other than a smokescreen for annexation, it was disabused just moments after the plan’s glitzy White House announcement.
Immediately following President Trump’s announcement of a plan he claimed would chart a course to a “two-state solution,” Prime Minister Netanyahu took to the very same podium to announce his government would immediately move to impose sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and all West Bank settlements — a flagrant violation of international law.
US Ambassador David Friedman was quick to confirm that the administration had green lit annexation, telling reporters, “Israel does not have to wait at all” and “we will recognize it.”
We need to be clear: This is a “two state solution” in name only, just as it is a “peace plan” in name only.
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Senate Letter Opposing the Plan
Senators Chris Van Hollen, Sherrod Brown, Tom Udall, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Martin Heinrich, Patrick Leahy, Sheldon Whitehouse, Tammy Baldwin, Amy Klobuchar, Jack Reed and Tom Carper addressed the following letter to President Trump:
Dear President Trump,
We write to express our profound concern regarding your decision to release a one-sided Israeli-Palestinian plan forged without any Palestinian involvement or support. Unilateral implementation of this one-sided proposal will risk eliminating any remaining prospects for achievement of a peaceful and viable two-state solution.
Unilateral U.S. endorsement of Israeli sovereignty throughout Jerusalem, over all Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley guarantees Palestinian rejection and paves the way for full or partial Israeli annexation of the West Bank. Such a development would disregard international law, engender stiff opposition from our allies, and undermine existing U.S. policy regarding the unilateral annexation of Crimea, eastern Ukraine, northern Cyprus and elsewhere. It will also place allies like Jordan in an untenable position.
Furthermore, this proposal violates the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and will erode the long-term security interests of Israel by placing it on a course toward either a one-state solution that undermines the vision of a democratic Jewish state or a fragmented, disconnected and deeply unequal system of Palestinian islets surrounded by Israeli territory. Neither is a sustainable solution that supports the legitimate rights and aspirations of both sides. Any attempt to label a disconnected series of Palestinian islets a “state” would betray the vision of a sovereign Palestinian state.
The timing of this proposal to coincide with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s indictment on bribery charges also raises disturbing questions about your intention to intervene in the Israeli election process. For this reason, leading Israeli politicians had called for a delay in the plan’s release until after the March 2 Israeli elections.
Your administration has already reversed decades of bipartisan U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Previous presidents of both parties successfully maintained the respect of both Israelis and Palestinians for the United States’ role as a credible player in difficult negotiations. Your one-sided actions have made that impossible. It is clear that this latest White House effort is not a legitimate attempt to advance peace. It is a recipe for renewed division and conflict in the region. We urge your administration to demonstrate a real commitment to a viable two-state solution and to lay the foundation for a future that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace, freedom, security, and prosperity.
House Letter Opposing the Plan
107 representatives sent the following letter to President Trump:
We write to express our strong disapproval of your administration’s proposal, the purported aim of which is to advance peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Our concern is both with the substance of your plan, which will exacerbate and entrench conflict rather than resolve it, and with the timing of its release.
Just last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.Res.326 with bipartisan support. That resolution indicated Congressional opposition to unilateral annexation of the West Bank, asserted longstanding U.S. opposition to settlement expansion, and reaffirmed that any viable U.S.-proposed peace plan must include support for a two-state solution. A real two-state solution is the only conflict-ending means of securing both national self-determination for Palestinians and an Israel that is secure, democratic, and a homeland for the Jewish people.
However, the “ultimate deal” that your team has incubated for the past three years is not a serious or good faith attempt to bring such a durable peace between the parties to this conflict. Of utmost concern, your proposal effectively paves the way for permanent occupation of the West Bank. It endorses unilateral annexation of Israeli settlements, as well as the Jordan Valley. While your proposal uses the language of statehood for Palestinians, it provides for far less than an actual, viable state. A collection of disconnected Palestinian enclaves – surrounded by settlements and settlement infrastructure annexed by Israel, and still under Israeli control – does not constitute statehood. Crafted by a team that has long indicated its animosity to actual Palestinian statehood, your proposal attempts to make a genuine two-state solution impossible.
We are deeply concerned that your administration developed a proposal without consulting Palestinians and that no Palestinian leadership could plausibly accept. It could result in renewed violence in Israel and across the occupied territories. It may destabilize Jordan, a vital U.S. ally, and endanger Israel’s peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt. It also will likely deepen animosity toward the United States throughout the broader Middle East.
In addition to the highly problematic nature of your proposal, the timing of its release suggests motives unrelated to helping solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Coming just over a month before Israel’s third election in a year – against the backdrop of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s indictments – releasing the plan now appears to be an inappropriate intervention in a foreign election.
A U.S. proposal that promotes unilateral annexation and jettisons a real two-state solution is bad for Israel, for the shared values that have historically undergirded the U.S.-Israel relationship, and for the bipartisan consensus in the U.S. on the importance of that relationship, which Israel has long understood to be a crucial strategic asset.
Your plan will hurt Israelis and Palestinians alike, pushing them toward further conflict. It does not have our support, and the Israeli government must not take it as license to violate international law by annexing all or portions of the West Bank.