Selling Palestine Down the River: Trump and Netanyahu Face Many Hurdles

posted on: Jul 1, 2020

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By: John Mason/Arab America Contributing Writer

Until recently, Israel’s new unity government had been on track to annex as much as 30% of the West Bank as soon as July 1, fully guaranteed by President Trump and Mr. Kushner. Unilaterally determined, this step will preclude any possibility for the formation of an independent state of Palestine. Given the real threat of putting the West Bank on the Israeli chopping block, the Palestine leadership had decided to break all prior formal agreements with the U.S. and Israel, including the Oslo Accords.

The Annexation of 30% of Palestinian Territory in Question

Pressures against the announced annexation have been mounting and coming in from many corners of the world. First, the Palestinian position itself, including its unwillingness to negotiate, is an important sign of disagreement, if that even matters to the Israeli leaders. Arab countries in the region have also made their displeasure known. The United Nations has begun to make noises of opposition, In Israel itself, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s situation is uncertain because he is under criminal indictment. In the U.S., Trump is dealing with a growing Covid-19 problem, a Black Lives Matter protest and its aftermath that continues unabated, and, not least, Trump’s sinking poll numbers in the face of the upcoming November elections.

A high-level U.S. delegate visit to Israel over the weekend of June 26-28 to discuss the annexation, signaled that the U.S. was perhaps not quite so ready unilaterally to totally destroy Palestinian hopes and aspirations for their own statehood—at least for the moment. We know that this could change depending on how the political winds are blowing in and around the White House.

Internal Israeli Considerations, Arab Regional Perspectives and United Nations’ Concerns over Annexation 

It became clear to Netanyahu over the last few months that its sole partner in the annexation, Trump’s White House, was flagging in its enthusiasm for the full 30% gauging of occupied Palestine. The Times of Israel reported that Netanyahu presented to his partner-in-governing and Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, with four scenarios for annexing the West Bank, “ranging from a symbolic move all the way to extending sovereignty over all areas slated for Israel under the Trump administration’s peace plan.” This included 30% of the West Bank, comprising the Jordan Valley and all 132 Israeli settlements.

On the Arab side of the equation, several Arab states have condemned the unilateral annexation. Nascent diplomatic relations between the certain Gulf States and Israel are at risk. And, leaders from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan have shown human rights concerns for their Palestinian brethren. The Arab League, according to the Associated Press (AP), has warned the United Nations that Israel’s annexation of parts of the West Bank would inflame tensions and endanger peace in the Middle East, and could ignite “a religious war in and beyond our region.” Further, the secretary-general of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, noted that the intended annexation would harm the chances of peace today and in the future.

The United Nations has itself weighed in against Israel’s plan to annex a critical piece of the Palestinian homeland, intended to occur on July 1. The head of the UN, Antonio Guterres, also according to the AP, noted that annexation “would constitute a most serious violation of international law, grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution and undercut the possibilities of a renewal of negotiations.” Guterres urged the Palestinian leadership to participate in a dialogue with the Israelis, though such dialogue has born very little fruit in past attempts at talking through the issues. Through the UN, the European Community has also expressed strong concern over the fate of Palestinians if the July 1 date were to be met. Present and incoming members to the UN Security Council have put fellow members on notice that annexation would have legal consequences that could affect presently close relationships with Israel.

Palestinian Options in the Face of Annexation 

Palestinian foreign minister, Riad al-Maliki, has announced that the Palestinian Authority will cease to exist the moment Netanyahu pulls the trigger to annex 30% of the West Bank. According to the AP, “That means that full responsibility for the well-being and services for 4.5 million Palestinians will be turned back to Israel as the occupying power according to the Geneva conventions, he told the council and a press conference afterward.” The Trump-Kushner plan would give Israel permanent control of the 30%, with the remainder of a bantu-ized, fragmented territory going to Palestinians, who would supposedly have expanded authority over this chopped-up mess of a landmass. This would result in an emasculated idea of a Palestinian Homeland, which is an unacceptable solution to the Palestinians.

Recently, senior Palestinian officials met in the Jordan Valley to appeal to the international community, but especially to U.S. and Israeli authorities, who have the most leverage to close down the joint-U.S.-Israel plan. This meeting in the Jordan Valley is highly symbolic since it the Valley has valuable water sources and comprises almost one-third of the occupied West Bank. From Israel’s standpoint, however, according to Agence France-Presse, “Israel considers control of the plain, which sits between two desert mountain ranges, essential for its security.” If Israel presses ahead with annexation, the valley will mark the country’s western border with Jordan. Jordan, of course, is one of only two Arab states, plus Egypt, that has a peace agreement with Israel.

Annexing the Jordan Valley for Palestinians would eliminate any chance for peace. It would include the Palestinian city of Jericho, swallowed up by the Israeli state. Only 10,000 Israeli settlers live in Jordan Valley among a total of 65,000 Palestinians.

Other actors opposed to annexation 

Many forces have expressed their opposition to the American-Israeli scheme to deprive the Palestinians of their human, much less civil, rights. Some countries have threatened to retaliate against Israel, such as Ireland, and have indicated that if annexation occurs, they will immediately recognize a Palestinian state and sanction Israel.

A leaked memo offers another set of eyes on the ambivalence of certain American Jewish organizations towards annexation. A memo leaked from the Anti-Defamation League obtained by the Jewish Current notes that the group needed “to find a way to defend Israel from criticism without alienating other civil rights organizations, elected officials of color, and Black Lives Matter activists and supporters.” The memo appears to say that ADL wants to avoid the appearance of open hostility to criticism of its support of annexation. At the same time, ADL seeks to block the potential censure of Israel through legislation. It appears that ADL wants to have its cake and eat it too.

An Episcopalian Church in Pasadena, California, All Saints Church, and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine have cooperated in protesting a wall built by the Israelis as part of the confiscation of Palestinian lands. This wall cut the Palestinian residents off from the terraces where they grow their grapes, fruit trees, almonds, and apricots. According to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, All Saints “is circulating a petition calling upon U.S. congressional leaders to oppose Israel’s planned annexation of their legal settlements and much or all of Oslo Area C in the occupied Palestinian Territories.”

Members of the U.S Congress have submitted to President Trump a letter strongly resisting the July 1 intention. A dozen Democratic lawmakers led by Senator Sanders, Reps. Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib have circulated a letter to cut aid to Israel over Annexation.

In part the letter states, “Should the Israeli government continue down this path, we will work to ensure non-recognition of annexed territories as well as pursue legislation that conditions the $3.8 billion in U.S. military funding to Israel to ensure that U.S. taxpayers are not supporting annexation in any way,” the letter continues, “We will include human rights conditions and the withholding of funds for the offshore procurement of Israeli weapons equal to or exceeding the amount the Israeli government spends annually to fund settlements, as well as the policies and practices that sustain and enable them.”

See the Letter here.

AIPAC reacted with a Tweet in which it stated that the letter, “explicitly threatens the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that would damage American interests, risk the security of Israel & make a two-state solution less likely.”

AIPAC opposes the letter being circulated by @RepAOC—cosigned by @RepJayapal, @RepRashida & @BettyMcCollum04—which explicitly threatens the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that would damage American interests, risk the security of Israel & make a two-state solution less likely.

— AIPAC (@AIPAC) June 29, 2020

Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein also wrote a strongly worded letter spelling out the folly of annexation. The letter reads, “This flagrant violation of international law, once again confirmed by various countries and the United Nations, is expected to unleash crushing repression and violence which will be broadcast and shown by photojournalists around the world.” the letter goes on to state, “The collateral damage from this unilateral seizure of thirty percent from what is left of Palestinian land.”

See Nader’s Letter here.

So, we await with some apprehension the decisions of Trump and Netanyahu about the July 1 intended annexation. We will let our readers know as soon as we learn if that date becomes as tragic as the full annexation would suggest.

References:

“PM said to present Gantz with 4 annexation options, including only symbolic move,” Times of Israel, June 18, 2020

“Arab League: Israeli annexation could ignite a religious war,” by Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press, June 24, 2020

“Jordan Valley, a strategic plan with key resources,” Agence France-Presse, June 23, 2020

“Some nations said gearing up to recognize Palestine if annexation goes ahead,” Times of Israel, June 10, 2020

“Leaked Memo Details ADL’s Annexation Response,” by Joshua Leifer, Jewish Currents, June 26, 2020

“Southland Episcopalians petition to halt Israel’s annexation of Palestinian land,” by Pat McCaughan Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, May 23, 2020

John Mason, PhD., who focuses on Arab culture, society, and history, is the author of LEFT-HANDED IN AN ISLAMIC WORLD: An Anthropologist’s Journey into the Middle East, New Academia Publishing, 2017. He has taught at the University of Libya, Benghazi, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the American University in Cairo; John served with the United Nations in Tripoli, Libya, and consulted extensively on socioeconomic and political development for USAID and the World Bank in 65 countries.

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