Here’s video of the launch and here are some key points.
Borders: Trump’s plan features a map of what Israel’s new borders will be should it enact the plan fully. Israel retains 20% of the West Bank, and will lose a small amount of land in the Negev, near the Gaza-Egypt border. The Palestinians will have a pathway to a state on 80% of the West Bank. Israel will maintain control of all borders. This is the first time a US president has provided a detailed map of this kind.
Jerusalem: The Palestinians will have a capital in Jerusalem based on northern and eastern neighborhoods that are outside the Israeli security fence – Kfar Aqab, Abu Dis and half of Shuafat.
Settlements: Israel would retain the Jordan Valley and all Israeli settlements in the West Bank, in the broadest definition possible, meaning not the municipal borders of each settlement, but their security perimeters. This also includes 15 isolated settlements, which will be enclaves within an eventual Palestinian state, unable to expand for four years. The IDF will have access to the isolated settlements. In order for the settlement part of the plan to go into effect, Israel will have to take action to apply sovereignty to the settlements.
Security: Israel will be in control of security from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. The IDF will not have to leave the West Bank. No change to Israel’s approach to Judea and Samaria would be needed.
Palestinian State: The plan does not include immediate recognition of a Palestinian state; rather, it expects a willingness on Israel’s part to create a pathway towards Palestinian statehood based on specific territory, which is 80% of Judea and Samaria, including areas A and B and half of Area C. The state will only come into existence in four years if the Palestinians accept the plan, if the Palestinian Authority stops paying terrorists and inciting terror, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad put down its weapons. In addition, the American plan calls on the Palestinians to give up corruption, respect human rights, freedom of religion and a free press, so that they don’t have a failed state. If those conditions are met, the US will recognize a Palestinian state and implement a massive economic plan to assist it.
Refugees: A limited number of Palestinian refugees and their descendants will be allowed into the Palestinian state. None will enter Israel.
This is the first plan that’s arguably fair to Israel. It’s a more viable plan than most of its kind. And it hopefully sets a precedent for realistic expectations for proposing a final peace plan.
The obvious structural problem is that you can’t make peace with terrorists, and a terrorist state is an existential threat.
The important thing about this plan is that it helps reset expectations and recognizes Israel’s security needs and realistic territorial placement, unlike previous proposals which would have required the ethnic cleansing of large Jewish populations to make way for terrorist encampments. And, much like moving the embassy and recognizing the Golan Heights, this will reset expectations.
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