Art of the Deal, Palestine Version Trump’s unconventional diplomacy is on display in Israel and the Balkans.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/art-of-the-deal-palestine-version-11580255641?mod=opinion_lead_pos1
From the press coverage of the Trump Administration’s Mideast peace efforts led by Jared Kushner, you’d have thought the White House was going to dismiss Palestinian statehood and ask for no concessions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yet the plan described Tuesday at the White House is far more thoughtful. Its thrust is a high-profile endorsement of the two-state solution, and the political implications for Mr. Netanyahu are not yet clear.
This is a pro-Israel plan by historical standards. It envisions Palestinians controlling much less territory than they would under the 1967 borders, including as much as 80% of the West Bank. It would not require the evacuation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and it demands that Hamas, the terrorist group that controls Gaza, be disarmed. Israel would control the Jordan River valley that it says is vital to security on its eastern border.
Yet far from bowing to the demands of Israel’s settlers, the plan provides for a four-year settlement freeze on construction in the West Bank, and settler groups are criticizing it. More important, the plan gives a political boost to the two-state solution that Mr. Netanyahu’s base has been abandoning. It also anticipates a high-speed rail link between Gaza and the West Bank that is sure to raise objections from Israeli security hawks.
The press is describing the plan as a “gift” to Mr. Netanyahu ahead of the next Israeli election in March, but parts of it may put the Prime Minister on defense against the rightward elements of his coalition.
The recognition of some of Israel’s territorial expansion since 1967 simply reflects changes in political realities as the Palestinians rejected peace deal after peace deal. No one serious in Israel expects the major settlement blocks to be demolished. Meanwhile, Israel has unprecedented support from the Gulf Arab states, which are united with Israel against Iran and have grown tired of Palestinian rejectionism.
The diplomatic approach is unconventional. The U.S. norm has been to arm-twist the Israelis and bribe the Palestinians with cash. Instead the Trump Administration has supported Israel unapologetically—including by moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem—and wants the rest of the world to persuade the Palestinians to confront reality.
This approach may fail like so many previous efforts, but sometimes unconventional diplomatic methods are worth a try. Last week the Trump Administration contributed to a little-noticed diplomatic breakthrough in the Balkans as Serbia and Kosovo agreed to resume transit between their two countries that has been frozen since the 1990s wars.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s statehood and has mistrusted the U.S., which intervened to protect Kosovo in 1999. Yet the European Union-backed talks went nowhere, and Mr. Trump appointed U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell as special envoy. Instead of political and territorial disputes, Mr. Grenell focused on business concerns. German airliner Lufthansa agreed to carry flights between the two countries—a small but notable step toward normalizing relations.
Stability on Europe’s periphery and a Palestinian state—these are hobbyhorses of the internationalist establishment more than of Mr. Trump’s populist supporters. Yet critics shouldn’t overlook the Administration’s efforts toward solving them.
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