President Donald Trump’s unveiling of his peace plan has the potential to historically alter the character of the association between Israel and her neighbors. While additional details of the plan require further analysis, its key points are now clear-cut.
Israeli control will be acknowledged in key areas in Judea and Samaria, including all Israeli cities and neighborhoods, and in the entire Jordan Valley. No construction will be tolerated by either party in what is known as Area C, over which Israel has civilian control. Israel has been remiss in curtailing prohibited Palestinian construction there. Now that the United States itself has called for a halt to Palestinian building in all of Area C, Israel must enforce this freeze strictly and completely.
Israel will bear sole responsibility for safety in the entire region west of the Jordan River. The road to statehood for the Palestinians will include meeting compulsory conditions. Among them are: conceding that Israel is a Jewish state with Jerusalem as its capital; neutralizing Hamas; halting funds paid to terrorists that compromise the safety of Israelis; abolishing anti-Israel propaganda in the Palestinian educational system.
This new and promising plan offered by President Trump, advisor Jarred Kushner, attorney Jason Greenblatt, and Ambassador David Friedman, merit the appreciation of the Israeli people for their efforts to offer a new and more favorable path toward stability in the area. This move is necessary for the Israelis to provide much-needed infrastructure and commerce that will benefit both Israel and Palestine.
Previous attempts to bring stability between the two parties were founded on the ridiculous notion that harmony could be induced with a faction that practiced such blatant Jew-hatred. This newly-introduced plan includes a requirement that Palestinian leaders take major strides to display nonviolent intentions before any privileges are granted—a new and fundamental modification in process. Change will only be possible when the Palestinians are regarded as responsible adults; these entirely rational requirements being proposed as preconditions to statehood do precisely that. The hope that the Palestinians will perform as mature adults is perhaps not a reasonable assumption. Because they have not in the past, reveals all any proposed peace partner needs to know.
The peace plan is not without many hazards that must be confronted. Probably the most recognized is that adoption by Israeli leaders may be mistaken as approval of Palestinian statehood. While that may be true in principle, a state would only be established once the list of preconditions is met. This is highly unlikely, as such an entity would have no more authority than the current Palestinian Authority has, and experience has shown that past peace plans and offers of conciliations by Israel have failed. It is essential that this plan be firmly and definitively fixed in place lest a future U.S. government that might be less responsive to Israel refute the Trump administration’s proposal. It is, therefore, crucial that these conditions and limitations be firmly locked down.
Knowing both the advantages and the dangers, Israel should react positively to the plan while adopting a suitable response to make the most of the plan and to lessen its liabilities. For example:
-Israel should receive the proposal in principle as the foundation for future talks with the Trump administration concerning the particulars.
-Israel should expand its control over areas in which the United States has granted Israeli autonomy. The Israeli cabinet should do so straightaway upon inking the plan, and not wait for another election. Israeli law does not dictate that the move be approved by the Knesset. A decision not to move confidently on expanding authority over the proposed areas could be seen as a loss of courage and could garner lasting ramifications.
-Israel must make certain that a favorable response to the peace plan is not in any way to be determined as acceptance of the right to a Palestinian Authority state; that move would be based on the Palestinians’ acceptance of the conditions established by the plan. Palestinians are not anywhere close to satisfying the conditions set down for such an entity.
-Israel is acquiescing to this plan because of its trust in the Trump administration. Accordingly, it should be established by Israel and the United States that advancement by the Palestinians regarding meeting the conditions set forth will be evaluated after a specified period of time. If no advancement has been made, Israel will, as agreed to by the Trump administration, expand its control to additional areas of Judea and Samaria as essential for her long-term safety.
-Israel should seek, in cooperation with the current administration, to secure the proposal in a compulsory contract with Israel in order that the stipulations for Palestinian statehood could not be overturned or ignored by future administrations.
As one of President Trump’s faith advisers and the founder of the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem, I believe that under this plan any future Palestinian state would have to be demilitarized. Neither should it cede to the Palestinians any air space nor the ability to establish treaties.
I have been in close touch with the president and his peace team, and am pleased that the plan does not take away the major biblical sites from Israel, i.e., access by Israelis to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem, as well as others. It is my belief that Evangelical Christians will see the plan as everything we were hoping for – everything.
Now to reality: Will the Palestinians ever establish a capital in East Jerusalem? No! The best they could ever hope to have would be Abu Dis, a town bordering Jerusalem; but that is doubtful. The leaders have no intention of changing. All the conditions mentioned above with which they must comply will never be met. Therefore, the Palestinians have an opportunity, with a $50 billion fund, but the likelihood of that happening within the next decade is extremely unlikely.
What Israel received in the plan is historic: the recognition of Judea and Samaria as sovereign territory, and so much more. This is a moral clarity plan on steroids that would have been a wonderful gift from Santa Claus. The opportunity will never be seized, but will be left to languish on the table.
Conclusively, this is the preeminent peace plan ever proposed to the Israeli government, as it is founded upon a more accurate grasp of the motives of the various factions in the region. Should this attempt at a peaceful resolution fail, the results could establish an even more aggressive PA state on Israel’s border. Accordingly, Israel should agree to the plan as a basis for further talks with the United States. At the same time, she must establish a means to maximize her interests and to avoid manipulation by any entity of the plan. Should the Israeli government act with fitting vigilance and resolve, the Trump Peace Plan might very well become the momentous crossroads of Middle East accord.
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Mike Evans is a #1 New York Times bestselling author with 96 published books. He is the founder of Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem of which the late President Shimon Peres, Israel’s ninth president, was the chair. He also serves as a founding member on the Trump Evangelical Faith Initiative and has 66 million Facebook followers on the Jerusalem Prayer Team.