"Attempts to buy opponents": how the US intends to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

Since Donald Trump was elected to the presidency of the United States, the plan for a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has constantly become the object of debate in the White House. The work on the document was entrusted to Jared Kouchner, son-in-law and senior adviser to Donald Trump, who came from a wealthy Jewish family.

On the eve of the US administration has published part of a plan to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, on which the White House has been working since 2017.

So far, only a section devoted to economic issues has been published. The American side suggests Palestine to come to "peace and prosperity" at the expense of large-scale investments: if Ramallah accepts the conditions of Washington, the total amount of financial investments in the economy of Palestine and neighboring countries will be about $ 50 billion over ten years.

The economic part of the “deal of the century,” as the US settlement plan is called, will be officially presented by Jared Kushner on June 25-26 in Bahrain at the international forum “Peace for Prosperity,” initiated by American diplomats.

• Jared Kushner.
• Reuters
• © Kevin Lamarque

Delegations from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and the Gulf countries are planning to participate in this event. Note that earlier the Palestinian authorities called on Egypt and Jordan not to participate in the forum. According to the television channel Al Jazeera, in Ramallah fear that this could weaken the consolidated position of the Arab world on Palestinian issues.

In addition, a few days before the report was published, Special Envoy of the United States President in the Middle East Jason Greenblatt said that he considered it expedient to postpone the release of political proposals for the “deal of the century” before the early parliamentary elections are held in Israel - the vote is scheduled for autumn.

The authors of the report propose to implement about a hundred infrastructure and industrial projects in Palestine - more than half of the allocated funds will be spent for this purpose.

For example, $ 1 billion is planned to be invested in the development of the tourism industry, $ 5 in the construction of highways that would link the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Part of the funding will be directed to Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, which, according to experts, indicates the US attempt to bring these states to its side.

“The President of the United States is a man of business who primarily considers money, and believes that it is money that serves as the main driving motive for people. Everything else is secondary for him, ”said Alexander Vavilov, a Middle East expert and professor at Moscow State University, in a conversation with RT.

"Shows the gingerbread, hiding the whip"

The authors of the plan state that the outcome of this initiative will be the creation of a million jobs for Palestinians, as well as a doubling of the Palestinian state’s GDP over the next ten years and a reduction in the level of poverty in the region.

“The concept“ From the World to Prosperity ”will reveal the enormous potential of the Palestinian people and provide them with the opportunity to achieve their goals and realize ambitions,” the document states.

The published part of the plan also states that the terms of the deal provide for "reducing the number of obstacles to the economic development of the Palestinian territories by involving the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in regional and international trade."

• Palestinian protesters throw stones at Israeli troops.
• Reuters
• © Mohamad Torokman

The development of transport infrastructure in this territory will contribute to its economic integration with neighboring countries, and in addition, the "competitiveness of Palestinian exports" will increase, we are sure in Washington. Palestinians, according to the authors of the document, should strengthen cooperation with Egypt, Israel and Jordan.

However, analysts believe that such prospects are hardly supported by any real political proposals from the United States. Alexander Vavilov admits that it is for this reason that the political part of the “deal” has not yet been published.

In turn, Professor HSE in a conversation with RT Dmitry Evstafev said that the settlement plan had to be published in its entirety.

“But the American administration always acts according to the same principle - it shows the gingerbread first, while hiding the whip. Why the United States did so in the case of Palestine is also understandable - now the White House wants to show itself from the best side, in the role of a peacemaker. For Trump, against the backdrop of exacerbating the situation around Iran, it is now important to get an informational, propaganda win. ”

It is worth noting that the other side of the conflict, Israel, is hardly mentioned in the document.

• Ramallah
• Reuters
• © Mandel Ngan

However, the White House recognizes that there can be no talk of peace without a political settlement.

The general contours of the terms of the “deal of the century” have already leaked into the network. For example, at the beginning of the year, Israeli media, citing a source, said that the United States is going to propose the creation of a Palestinian state in "about 90% of the West Bank with its capital in some parts of East Jerusalem." At the same time, the historical center of East Jerusalem, in which the shrines of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are concentrated, will have to depart the Israeli side. Large Jewish settlements in the West Bank will also continue to exist, although it is not planned to expand them. Recall now the United States and Israel do not recognize Palestine as a state.

In May, the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom (Israel Today) also published a tentative list of the alleged US plan conditions. The publication reported that this document was handed to him by unnamed officers of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, but the accuracy of the information was not confirmed officially.

According to published clauses, Jerusalem should become the united capital of both Israel and the future state, which will be called "New Palestine". At the same time, the status of the holy places supposedly will not change.

Jewish settlements in the West Bank will also continue. Palestinians will be offered to lease the land of Egypt in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, the Palestinian side will lose the right to have its own army.

Now, according to the provisions of international law, East Jerusalem is under the sovereignty of the Palestinian side, but in practice it has long been controlled by Israel.

Although the accuracy of this information has not been confirmed, Jared Kushner has repeatedly stated openly that if the parties to the conflict achieve peace, they will be able to count on economic support. And not only the US budget, but also, possibly, the countries of the Persian Gulf will act as a source of financing.

“Compromise is unacceptable”

However, Palestine did not wait for the details of the “deal of the century”: in mid-June, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh al-Maliki said that a partially recognized state would not accept conditions that do not comply with international law and the UN Charter.

“The so-called“ deal of the century ”by the US administration is in fact a violation of our rights. We were deprived of independence, rights and justice. Palestine cannot have such a future. We have struggled for such a long time not to live in a golden cage. We want freedom, we do not want conditional freedom, ”said a Palestinian diplomat, speaking at the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

• Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki.
• Reuters
• © Hamad I Mohammed

According to him, such a deal "will never be able to achieve an integrated and long-term peace in the Middle East if it does not correspond and does not meet the rights of the people of Palestine." From the point of view of a diplomat, for Palestine such a right is independence with East Jerusalem as the capital.

According to Dmitry Evstafyev, the idea of ​​territorial exchange of East Jerusalem into some lands has been proposed since the late 1970s, but it cannot be implemented.

“For Israel, a compromise on East Jerusalem is unacceptable. Therefore, urging the Palestinians to abandon it is the only option that can be offered in Washington. However, neither for the Palestinians, nor for the entire Muslim world, this is unacceptable. Even for such US satellites as Saudi Arabia, ”Yevstafyev explained in an interview with RT.

In turn, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US presidential adviser John Bolton that the country does not intend to leave the Jordan Valley, which, from the point of view of international law, belongs to the occupied territories.

"In any version of the peace agreement, our position will be to maintain the presence of Israel here in the interests of our and universal security," he stressed.

Recall that after the completion of the British mandate in the region in 1948, a war broke out between the young Jewish state and the coalition of Arab countries, after which the Israelis took control of West Jerusalem - there are relatively new neighborhoods there. East Jerusalem and the West Bank remained under Jordan’s control.

However, during the Six Day War of 1967, Israel was able to gain a foothold in East Jerusalem and declared the entire city its jurisdiction.

This decision did not find support at the global level - from the point of view of international law, the eastern part of the city is under Israeli occupation. In addition, Israel is encouraging the construction of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, despite the protests of the UN.

Last year, Donald Trump provoked another round of conflict in the region, deciding to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Although Washington officially stated that this gesture should not be regarded as recognition by the American side of Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem, many interpreted this decision in that way.

“From the point of view of the American side, Palestine should be content with the lands that it has,” Vavilov said.

However, in this situation, it is hardly possible to get a truly workable plan from the White House, experts say. In their opinion, Washington’s proposals are likely to be rejected.

"He (Donald Trump . - RT ), just like the Palestinians, promised earlier the prosperity of the DPRK, and even partly to Iran," said Vavilov.

Dmitry Evstafiev adheres to the similar point of view. According to him, a workable compromise from the White House is hardly possible, since the United States has close ties with the Israeli authorities.

“Under these conditions, the promulgation of any plan that would allow concessions from Israel led to a further complication of the situation for Trump. Moreover, attempts to “buy” opponents are a method of Trump’s foreign policy, which, on the one hand, threatens with sanctions, and in some cases even with force ones, and on the other, it offers financial bonuses that are not always reinforced in practice, ”the expert concluded.