The US-sponsored plan for Israeli-Palestinian “peace to prosperity” is not a peace plan. It contradicts previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements on core issues of the conflict: borders, settlements, Jerusalem, and refugees. It runs counter to UN resolutions and the basic principle of a settlement of the conflict based on the recognition of the national rights of the two peoples and the peaceful coexistence between two sovereign states. It humiliates the Palestinians and reinforces the right-wing rhetoric in Israël which has heavily affected public opinion—to the effect that the support for the two-state solution has declined, the PNA and its President Abbas are not perceived as a negotiation partner, and a political settlement to the conflict is ranked low in the public’s priorities.
The plan comes on the backdrop of several steps by the US administration: reneging on previous US commitments to two states; recognizing Jerusalem as solely the capital of Israel, without allowing for a capital of the Palestinian state in East Jerusalem and removing its status from the negotiations; cutting funds for Palestinian institutions and NGOs; supporting Israel’s settlement entreprise.
The plan allows Israel to annex the Jordan valley and extend its sovereignty to all settlements. This would amount to the annexation of about 30% of the West Bank, Jerusalem would be undivided under Israeli sovereignty together with sizeable areas around the city such as E1/Ma’ale Adumim and Givat Hamatos.
The Palestinians would be offered a state within a 4-year period, subject to a list of conditions determined by the US and Israel. Such a state will be devoid of sovereignty, lacking control over borders, territorial waters and most natural resources, and with no capital in East Jerusalem. Israeli settlements will remain as enclaves within such an entity.
The one-state reality of permanent Israeli occupation, with unequal rights for the Palestinians and a dual legal regime that favors Israelis over their Palestinian neighbors, will be reinforced.
The nations of the world, and the EU member states in particular, must :
- defend a viable two-state solution, in line with internationally agreed parameters;
- reject Trump’s plan;
- confirm and expand the policy of differentiating between Israel and its settlements, in line with United Nations security council resolution 2334.
