MIDDLE EAST FORUM
Democrats, Experts, and Peace Plans
by Alex Joffe
February 4, 2020

Cutting Gordian Knots is a signature of the Trump administration, and the long-rumored “Deal of the Century” is no exception. At its core, the plan explicitly acknowledges reality: the Palestinians are losing the conflict, Israel will not return to the 1949 armistice lines, there will be no evacuation of the settlement blocs, and there is no Palestinian “right of return.” As historian Martin Kramer points out, the plan is not so much about peace as about partition. In that sense, the break it represents from the past 50 years of “peace processing” is profound. Equally striking is the plan’s reception. For all its vagaries, only a small handful of countries and entities, namely the Palestinian Authority (PA), Turkey, and Iran, have spoken out bitterly against it...READ MORE

THE HILL More than 100 House Dems reject Trump peace plan in open letter More than 100 House Democrats on Friday signed a letter to President Trump rejecting his Middle East peace plan, saying it would “hurt Israelis and Palestinians alike, pushing them toward further conflict.” The open letter, led by Democratic Reps. Alan Lowenthal (Calif.) and Andy Levin (Mich.), warned that Trump’s plan “paves the way for a permanent occupation of the West Bank.” Click here to read the letter. Illinois Democrat Congressman Brad Schneider (10th District), deviates from the group, issuing a less critical, more nuanced “Statement on Trump Administration’s Plan for Peace in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”