Trump’s Precarious Hope for Middle East Peace

- Trump’s Precarious Hope for Middle East Peace
by Tom Rogan, http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/
President Trump, as he prepares to unveil his peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has all the instruments for a deal. But he lacks the materials to see it built.
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While running for president, the businessman quickly came to see Middle East peace as a sort of geopolitical mega-prize, a job only the master of dealmakers could win.
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But speaking with the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom this month, after more than a year facing harsh geopolitical realities as president, Trump offered a warier appraisal of the prospects for progress. “Right now,” Trump said, “I would say the Palestinians are not looking to make peace, they are not looking to make peace. And I am not necessarily sure that Israel is looking to make peace. So we are just going to have to see what happens.”
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Trump was also clear about his personal desire for an agreement. “I think it is very foolish for the Palestinians and I also think it would be very foolish for the Israelis if they don’t make a deal.”
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When Trump returns to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference this week, he’ll probably lay out the successes his administration has notched over the past year, including creating a friendly atmosphere among neighbors in the Middle East by taking a hard line on Iran.
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But after Trump changed the calculus in the region by declaring that the American embassy would move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he is expected to run into massive obstacles thrown in his way by both of the other parties at the negotiating table. There, he faces Israeli and Palestinian leaders who, despite generations of conflict, nevertheless have nothing to gain and much to lose by offering concessions.
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