The foreign policy establishment, a globalist wing of the Swamp populated by neoconservative interventionists and progressive crusaders, has claimed that Palestine must be at the center of the Middle East peace process. For decades, appeasing Palestine has been accepted as conventional wisdom by both international organizations and U.S. administrations. Despite repeated attempts at establishing agreements to end hostilities, the Palestinian leadership has rejected every proposal of diplomacy, normalization, and peace, even when it is to the territory’s advantage.
Once again, President Donald Trump has tossed the Washington rulebook into the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, ignoring Palestine and working with Israel and regional partners. If it is not obvious by now, Middle Eastern states are jubilant that they no longer need to prop up and defend the region’s petulant and nihilist teenager who pouts and is never satisfied by anything. Was ignoring Palestine the path to peace all along?
Sudan, Israel, and the Arab World
Liberty Nation recently reported that the Trump administration successfully brokered a peace deal between Israel and Sudan. The president and his team of negotiators incentivized the agreement with $800 million in aid and investments, highlighting that money is far more important to impecunious nations than perpetuating Palestine’s feigned principles.
Now that Sudan has been added to the list of Arab states willing to engage with Israel, who else is next? LN’s Socio-political Correspondent Jeff Charles noted that Saudi Arabia could be the next nation to get on board, a historic decision that would potentially encourage other nations to follow suit.
“If this were to happen, it could entirely change the political and cultural landscape of the Middle East and North Africa,” Charles opined. “It is the type of change for which many Jews have been waiting for decades. Perhaps they will finally see their dreams come to fruition.”
And it makes economic sense, too. Israel is the third-wealthiest nation, on a per capita basis, in the Middle East. Many of these impoverished or cash-strapped Gulf states can tap the Israeli market by opening up their economies to Jerusalem. Trump is a businessman, and he has utilized his business acumen to push leaders to use commerce, not weapons, isolation, and Jewish hate, to prosper.
Where does this leave Palestine moving forward?
The Cold Shoulder
From the Peel Commission to the Framework for Peace in the Middle East, the Palestinian leadership possesses a long history of rejecting peace accords. Whether it is a two-state solution or land concession, the Palestinians have routinely dismissed these agreements. The most egregious rejection occurred in 2000 when then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak met for two weeks at Camp David with P.L.A. Chairman Yasser Arafat. Barak offered Arafat an independent Palestinian state in Gaza, 94% of the West Bank, and East Jerusalem as its capital. Arafat’s response? Barak said it best: “He just kept saying no to every offer…”
As long as Israel exists, Palestine will likely never agree to any offer. This position dates back to 1967 when the Arab League held a summit in Sudan, issuing “The Three No’s” resolution: No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, and no negotiations with Israel.
So, what is the endgame? For the Palestinians, it can be one of two things: the destruction of Israel or permanent victimhood status. While the evisceration of the Jewish state is unlikely to happen, Palestine handwringing about apartheid and oppression by Israel is far more profitable.
According to The Wall Street Journal, one-quarter of the Palestinian Authority’s $3 billion budget comes from foreign aid. But how are the hundreds of millions of dollars spent? Nobody knows since the P.A. has ceased being transparent about how it consumes these funds. The P.A. will continue to receive this level of financial assistance if it perpetually gripes about Israel, the international community’s villain.
Despite their pleas for sovereignty, Palestinian Arabs do not really want an independent state. It is far more expedient to extend your hand and accept charity than it is to be self-sufficient and autonomous. But the Arab world may no longer be interested in facilitating the P.A.’s self-imposed despair. In recent years, the U.S., Canada, and Europe have accounted for about two-thirds of aid to Palestine. Arab states represent roughly a fifth of financial contributions. If the diminishing contributions were not enough, Trump has exposed the fragile relationships by brokering deals between Israel and the region, signifying that Palestine’s allies are becoming discontent with Mahmoud Abbas and his government.
The Trump Doctrine
He may not have said it, but President Trump’s actions highlight that Palestine’s situation is hopeless. It has been decades of failure for everyone involved. It was time for a change and something new. With all of the experts from the highest levels of government and top academic institutions, no one has been able to accomplish anything substantive in the Middle East until – surprisingly – a real estate, reality TV billionaire mogul arrived on the scene. Abandoning Palestine could be part of his grand 4D chess strategy of advancing peace and prosperity in the Middle East, while showcasing the putrid record of the innumerable PhDs in international studies in the Swamp. After 70 years, the Trump Doctrine has taken a chainsaw to traditional thinking on foreign policy. It was about time.
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