Trump has muddled the peace process

It was a comical press conference between maverick Donald Trump and hard-nosed Benjamin Netanyahu on February 15, 2017 at the White House. What was most unusual was for the two men to talk to journalists before they sat down to share their ideas about the Middle East. Clearly, the two men wanted to avoid being pinned down to specifics.

Watching the joint press conference was indeed amusing. The body-language of the two men was surely farcical giving the impression that they were trying their best to show — that they were bosom friends. A poorly written statement was drivelled out by Trump. "The state of Israel is a symbol to the world of resilience in the face of oppression", Trump wobbled. It was pathetic to see Netanyahu falling all over eulogising Trump and glorifying American friendship declaring, "Israel has no better ally than the United States. And I assure you, the United States has no better ally than Israel".

Interaction of the two men with journalists showed how absurd their thinking was and ideas about the Palestinian–Israeli peace process. When asked about the two-state solution Trump muttered "I'm looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one that both parties like. I can live with either one". Clearly, Trump not only departed from the bipartisan bedrock US policy of two-state solution that it pushed since the 1967 Arab-Israel war, but also undermined US role as an objective arbiter. It starkly revealed how little Trump knew about Palestine.

On illegal Israeli settlements Trump half-heartedly asked Netanyahu to "hold back …for little bit" — till he gets a deal done. Though it sounded bitter, unperturbed Netanyahu kept smiling — meaning that he didn't give two hoots to such a request.

Trump went on to say that he would make a "bigger deal" involving very high level players of the region and asked Netanyahu to show "flexibility" and "play with the bigger canvas". He ducked direct answer on whether the US Embassy would be moved to Jerusalem. On Iran, Trump belligerently stated it was "One of the worst deals" he has ever seen and would prevent Iran from ever developing a nuclear weapon.

Netanyahu also derided the two-state solution and kept talking about "substance" rather than "labels". For making a deal with Palestinians, Netanyahu laid out two prerequisites — Palestine must recognise Israel as a Jewish state; and Israel shall retain the security control over the entire area west of Jordan River i.e. occupied West Bank, the future Palestinian state.

The problem with Netanyahu is that he does not agree to two states and interestingly does not agree to one-state solution either. Two-states mean lesser land for Israel and a hostile Muslim Palestinian neighbour. Netanyahu abhors the idea of demographic imbalance in a one-state solution — 11 million Palestinian Muslims (4.5 million in occupied territories and 6.5 million Diaspora) against 8.65 million Jews in Israel.

Actually, Netanyahu is pursuing Zionism — expand Jewish settlements to occupy as much land as he can; and simultaneously resort to ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the occupied territories. The passing of the "Regularisation Bill" on February 6, 2017 by the Israeli Knesset clearly upholds Netanyahu's strategy. The law allows Israeli government to retroactively recognise Jewish settlements built without official permission on privately-owned Palestinian land. Furthermore, Israel has announced construction of 6,000 new housing units in the occupied territories. Israel does not accept that Jewish settlements in occupied territories are illegal under international law. Clearly, Netanyahu wants one-state without any Palestinians.

According to a recent poll, two-thirds of Palestinians now agree that the two-state solution is unattainable and is an illusion. Many Palestinians would probably accept the one-state solution but not the apartheid policies that Netanyahu intends to pursue. Judaism has official status in Israel, meaning Jewish people enjoy all rights as citizens in Israel. Since Netanyahu wants Israel to be recognised as a Jewish state there will be no place for Islam in Israel. This means that Palestinian Muslims will be treated as second class citizens if the one-state solution eventually comes into being. No theocratic state can be democratic, ensuring equal rights to citizens of different faiths. It gives in to apartheid and racism.

Trump's answers to journalists appeared incoherent and un-presidential. He did not exude the feeling that he genuinely cared for Jews. When asked about the anti-Semitic attacks in US, he bragged about his election victory and promised more "love" for all Americans. One wonders whether Jared Kushner (Orthodox Jew) — Trump's son-in-law appointed to cut out a peace deal — can really come up with a formula, when many top diplomats have failed. Amazingly, there was no mention of the Palestinian leadership by either leader.

Ever since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict arose in 1948, with the creation of Israel, all American administrations have treated the issue with chicanery. Every US President since that time has promised to do justice to the victims (Palestinians) of the unjust wars. Nothing has happened in the past eight decades, except loss of thousands of Palestinian lives. While paying lip service to the Palestinian cause, America went about arming and financing Israel and giving unstinted support at the United Nations. One talks a lot about the strained relationship between President Obama and Netanyahu over the past eight years. Why then did Obama sign in September 2016, the USD 38 billion military assistance to Israel? Washington kept pushing for the two-state solution, knowing full well that it was not going to happen. If Washington wanted it could have pressured Israel to the negotiating table and produced a solution.

By going against world opinion and burying the two-state solution Trump has muddled an already complicated situation.

The writer is former Ambassador and Secretary.