Reality Comes to the Holy Land

© David Burton 2020

     On the 28th of January 2020, the United States released the details of a Mideast peace plan being offered to Israel and the Palestinian-Arabs residing in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and the Gaza Strip. With the release of the details of President Donald Trump’s Mideast peace plan – sometimes referred to as The Deal of the Century - the reality of what has transpired over the past seven decades since the creation of the modern State of Israel and what will transpire in the future between the State of Israel and its Palestinian-Arab neighbors is becoming clearer. Israel, in the past has repeatedly reached out to the Palestinian-Arabs in an effort to come to a mutually beneficial peace settlement – “Land for Peace”, the “Two State Solution” and much more. On their part, the Palestinian-Arabs have ultimately rejected each peace offer from Israel. Instead, the Palestinian-Arabs have waged a continuous campaign of murder, terror, incitement, and destruction while contributing to the destitution and deaths of their own people. Today, Israel and the United States, along with rational and unbiased people elsewhere have acknowledged that the Palestinian-Arab leaders are terrorists and do not constitute an honest “partner for peace”. Since there is no “partner for peace” with which a reasonable peace agreement can be reached, Israel will proceed in its own best interests, irrespective of the demands, threats, and vituperation that comes from these Palestinian-Arab terrorists. The window of opportunity has closed for these fanatics.

     Donald Trump’s much anticipated Mideast peace plan “gives Israel, for the very first time, real, defensible borders with the natural topographic boundary of the Jordan Valley—something so important in an age of increasing Iranian hegemony.
     “It does not erase the Jewish people’s history or claim to the holy sites. It demands that the Palestinian{-Arabs} recognize Israel as a Jewish state. It demands that the Palestinian{-Arabs} abolish the incitement in the textbooks. It calls for the end of the revolting ‘pay-for-slay program,’ incentivizing terrorism with greater payments for the greater number of Israelis they murder. And it calls for something that the Arab world has found very difficult to do since 1948: accept the reality of Israel as a Jewish state.
     “It would give the Palestinians 70 percent of the West Bank and $50-plus billion in investment in an economic infrastructure to build institutions of democracy, and for an educational path so their people can climb out of the cycle of poverty and self-imposed victimhood.” (Ref. 1)

     “Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised President Donald Trump’s much-anticipated Mideast peace plan during its unveiling event at the White House . . .
     “Describing past peace plans as ‘well-intentioned,’ Netanyahu said they failed because they didn’t ‘strike the right balance’ between Israel’s national and security interests and Palestinian {Arab} aspirations {In reality, these aspirations explicitly and consistently called for the destruction of the State of Israel}.
     “Unlike those plans, Netanyahu said Trump’s plan does address Israel’s security by ‘recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over all the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria {what is commonly referred to as the ‘West Bank’}, large and small alike.’
     “ ‘Rather than pay easy lip service to Israel’s security and simply shut your eyes, hope for the best, you recognized that Israel must have sovereignty in places that enable Israel to defend itself, by itself,’ Netanyahu said.
     “Referring to the ancient roots of the Jewish people to areas of Judea and Samaria dating back to biblical times, Netanyahu said:
     “ ‘Thanks to you, Mr. President, these areas and so many others that, for millennia, have been etched in the soul of the Jewish people and have fired the imaginations of millions of people around the world and across the world — these areas will now be recognized by the United States as a permanent part of the Jewish State.’
     “Drawing a parallel between Trump and President Harry Truman, ‘the first world leader to recognize the State of Israel’ after it declared independence, Netanyahu said, ‘you became the first world leader to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over areas in Judea and Samaria that are vital to our security and central to our heritage.’
     “Netanyahu said it was a historic moment and ‘I am prepared to seize the moment and change history.’ [Emphasis mine]
     “ ‘I also hope that our other Arab neighbors embrace your vision and forge a path of reconciliation with Israel that can create for all of us a brilliant future,’ he said.” (Ref. 2)

     Unsurprisingly, the Palestinian-Arab leadership rejected the American peace plan even before they knew what was in the plan. They wanted nothing to do with President Trump's plan: they knew it would never satisfy their demands. The Palestinian-Arabs were not opposed to the peace plan because of a dispute over a border or a settlement or a checkpoint or the status of Jerusalem. They were against Trump's plan -- and any other peace initiative -- because the Palestinian-Arabs had something else in mind.
     The two Palestinian-Arab parties - the PA (Palestinian Authority) and Hamas - may disagree on almost everything. But, the one thing on which they do agree is the elimination of Israel. The only peace plan acceptable to these Palestinian-Arab leaders would be one that facilitated their mission of pursuing jihad against Israel to obliterate it.
     The Palestinian-Arabs had never laid eyes on US President Donald Trump's plan for peace in the Middle East before the 28th of January. But that didn’t stop them from categorically rejecting the plan just as they have rejected every peace plan since 1948.
     In the first half of 2018, the PA leadership refused to have any dealings with the US administration to discuss a peace plan - except, of course, when it came to receiving financial aid from the US. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his senior associates in Ramallah not only refused to meet with any official from the US administration, but – as is their style - they waged a smear campaign of hate and incitement against President Trump and top US administration representatives and officials.
     The Palestinian-Arabs not only rejected the plan that didn’t yet exist at that time, but they also repeatedly condemned it, dubbing it a "conspiracy" designed to eliminate Palestinian-Arab rights.
     As has always been the case, the kind of "peace" that the Palestinian-Arabs are seeking is one that no peace initiative would ever provide. The obvious fact is: The Palestinian-Arab leaders want a peace without, not with, Israel. The reason the Palestinian-Arabs had a problem with the Trump plan was that they saw it as an obstacle to their plan to eliminate Israel. The Palestinian-Arabs knew that the Trump plan - regardless of its details - would not facilitate their mission to destroy Israel. The Palestinian-Arabs, in fact, see any peace plan presented to them - whether by Trump or anyone else - as an obstacle hindering their effort and dream to continue the jihad (holy war) against Israel and Jews.
     When the Palestinian-Arabs denounced the Trump plan as a "conspiracy," they meant that this was a US conspiracy to thwart their efforts to annihilate Israel. What the Palestinian-Arabs were saying was: "Who are these Americans to come and preach to us about peace with the Jews living here when our real goal is to drive the Jews out of this land?" [3]

     Following the release of the Trump Mideast peace plan, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian-Arab President – now in the 14th year of his 4-year term of office - was furious. “ ‘We say 1,000 no’s to the Deal of the Century,’ Abbas said, using a nickname for Trump’s proposal.
     “ ‘We will not kneel and we will not surrender’. . .” (Ref. 4)

     The PA leader had reason to be angry with the Trump plan – it posed a roadblock to his goal of eliminating Israel. He found that he had still more problems. “Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas feels very let down with the positions that most of the Arab world have taken regarding the American peace proposal . . .
     “A senior Palestinian official who participated in a meeting of the leaders of the Fatah movement that dominates the PA {said} ‘The . . . PA president looked disappointed and mainly very discouraged by the reactions of the Arab countries. He understands that he’s been left alone in the battle.’ [Emphasis mine]
     “Many statements from the Sunni Arab world after the plan’s announcement mentioned the idea that the Palestinians {would} have a state that accords with their ‘rights.’ This was especially true of Jordan, which spoke up most sharply among the American allies.
      - - -
     “Europe, which the Palestinians normally can count on to protect their interests, has responded positively to the Trump proposals as well with Britain, France, Austria and the European Union blessing the effort. . .
     “For decades, a majority of the world has parroted the Palestinian line demanding a state on the entire area Israel liberated in 1967’s Six Day War and the return of millions of descendants of refugees from Israel’s War of Independence.
     “Abbas has now discovered that support for this maximalist position has withered in almost every country, with the notable exceptions of Iran and Turkey . . . [Emphasis mine]
     “The Palestinian street itself has remained largely quiet [Emphasis mine] in the immediate aftermath, even though both Hamas and the PA called for massive protests.” (Ref. 5)

     “In response to the Palestinian Authority’s outright rejection of President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Israelis and Palestinians, Jared Kushner, a top adviser to the president, his son-in-law, and considered a leading force in formulating the plan, is firing back.
     “ ‘They have a perfect track record of blowing every opportunity they’ve had in their past,’ Kushner said . . .
     “He called on the PA leadership to ‘read the details’ of the Trump plan, ‘stop posturing, and do what’s best to try to make the Palestinian{-Arab} people’s lives better.’
     “The president’s senior aide maintained in the interview that if the PA cooperates, they would be on ‘a pathway to a state, a contiguous territory, and [have the] conditions where they can earn their way to their independence, their dignity, all these different things along with a $50 billion economic plan that could make them a very, very thriving state in the future.’
     “The 10-year economic plan was announced in June 2019, calling for Palestinian projects worth $27.5 billion in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, and $9.1 billion, $7.4 billion, and $6.3 billion for Palestinian{-Arab}s in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, respectively. Projects envisioned include those in the health care, education, power, water, high-tech, tourism, and agriculture sectors.
     “Kushner was the main initiator of the Peace to Prosperity summit, which took place at the end of June following the announcement of the economic plan. The summit was held in Bahrain, one of the countries backing the U.S. initiative.
     “However, the PA leadership boycotted the event. Kushner accused them at the time of making a strategic mistake. [Emphasis mine]
     “PA leader Mahmoud Abbas had charged that the Bahrain conference was ‘a big lie that Kushner and others invented to make fools of the people’ . . .
     “Following the announcement . . . of the Trump peace plan, Kushner said, in an interview with Al Jazeera, that ’the Palestinian Authority would rather go and complain as opposed to come to the table and negotiate which quite frankly shows that they are not ready to have a state.’” [Emphasis mine] (Ref. 6)

     As to be expected, negotiation, compromise and peace were not on the minds of the terrorist regimes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, “How did the Palestinian{-Arab} leadership respond to an offer of $50 billion in aid, one million jobs, and independent state of their own? Rockets and riots. [Emphasis mine]
     “Despite support from several Arab nations and Israeli’s willingness to negotiate key terms, Palestinian leaders responded to the recently proposed U.S. peace plan with ‘1,000 no’s,’ rocket fire, and threats of ‘days of rage.’
     “Mahmoud Abbas is leading the Palestinian{-Arabs}’ rejectionist charge, with Hamas and Islamic Jihad bosses lobbing rockets from Gaza at southern Israel.
     “Meanwhile, Arabs in Judea and Samaria took to the streets, to burn effigies of Donald Trump and provoke Israeli troops, with Palestinian{-Arabs} in Jerusalem attempting a stabbing attack.” (Ref. 7)

     Once again the Palestinian-Arab leaders have demonstrated that they are set on continuing their history of rejectionism and will not come to the peace table for any meaningful discussions. Instead, they are “screwing up” another opportunity “like they’ve screwed up every other opportunity.” [8]

     Reality is staring the PA and Hamas in the face, but as usual they continue to ignore what is taking place all around them. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser has warned the Palestinian-Arabs that Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria will continue to expand because rising anti-Semitism around the world means more Jews will immigrate to Israel. Their refusal to settle with Israel only means that this trend will continue with increasing speed.

     “Addressing many hot-button global issues in a speech and discussion with foreign diplomats to the United States, {an administration official} defended Trump’s Mideast peace plan, which was embraced by Israel but rejected by the Palestinian{-Arabs}. {He} said the plan is not ‘perfect,’ but urged the Palestinian{-Arabs} to negotiate terms of the proposed deal. The deal offers economic benefits that would allow {a Palestine state} to become the ‘Singapore of the Middle East,’ he said.
     “In response to Trump’s plan, which offers $50 billion in incentives to the Palestinians, protesters have rioted, thrown firebombs at Israeli troops, burned U.S. and Israeli flags, and torched posters of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who stood with Trump at the White House when he rolled out the plan . . . [Emphasis mine]
     “ ‘This could be the last opportunity for a two-state solution,’ . . . ‘The Israeli birth rate is strong and is growing because sadly anti-Semitism in Europe and other places around the world is encouraging more Jews to return to Israel. [Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria] are going to continue to expand. If this freeze on [community building] doesn’t hold. If this peace process doesn’t work, it may be physically impossible to have a two-state solution.’ [Emphasis mine]
     “Trump’s plan would foresee the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, but would allow Israel to annex all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, as well as the strategic Jordan Valley.” (Ref. 9)

     As a further sign that the Trump administration was fed up with double-faced obstinacy of the Palestinian-Arab terrorist leaders, “Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said on Tuesday that Israel ‘does not have to wait’ to annex Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria and {the} Jordan Valley.
     “ ‘The waiting period would be the time it takes for them to obtain internal approvals and to obviously create the documentation, the calibration, the mapping that would enable us to evaluate and make sure it’s consistent with conceptual map,’ he told reporters on a conference call organized by the White House. ‘If they wish to apply Israeli law to those areas allocated to Israel, we will recognize it.’
     “The Trump administration’s Mideast peace plan . . . calls for a four-year freeze which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to as part of accepting the proposal. Friedman said that freeze does not apply to current settlements.
     “The plan recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, while safeguarding Israel’s security, and taking its legal and historical claims into account.
     “It also recognizes a demilitarized Palestinian state with its capital in eastern Jerusalem ‘located in all areas east and north of the existing security barrier, including Kafr Aqab, the eastern part of Shuafat and Abu Dis, and could be named Al-Quds or another name as determined by the State of Palestine,’ with a future U.S. embassy there. And it requires the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas to be disarmed. [Emphasis mine]
     “Israel would maintain security responsibility west of the Jordan River and is expected to annex the Jordan Valley.
     “No Israelis or Palestinians would be uprooted from their homes, [Emphasis mine] according to the plan and a point U.S. President Donald Trump vocally emphasized in presenting the blueprint.
     “Some 97 percent of ‘Israelis in [Judea and Samaria] will be incorporated into contiguous Israeli territory,’ and some 97 percent of ‘Palestinians in [Judea and Samaria] will be incorporated into contiguous Palestinian territory. Land swaps will provide the State of Palestine with land reasonably comparable in size to the territory of pre-1967 [Judea and Samaria] and Gaza,’ according to the plan.“ (Ref. 10)

     “It came as no surprise that the ‘peace plan’ President Donald Trump presented at the White House on Tuesday was immediately rejected by the Palestinian{-Arab} leadership, whose top diplomats have long referred to it as ‘dead on arrival.’ But perhaps mindful of the need for multilateral legitimacy, White House aides had earlier this week scrambled to garner messages of approval, or at least neutrality, from allies across the region.” (Ref. 11)

     In a growing sign of the waning support of Palestinian-Arab intransigence, “Several moderate Arab states have cautiously expressed support for the American plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinian{-Arabs} that President Trump unveiled Tuesday in Washington.
     “In a public expression of solidarity, the ambassadors of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain even attended the plan’s festive roll-out in the East Room of the White House.
     “{The} UAE envoy . . . said afterwards that the proposal ‘offers an important starting point for a return to negotiations within a U.S.-led international framework. The UAE believes that Palestinians and Israelis can achieve lasting peace and genuine coexistence with the support of the international community.’
     “Egypt’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the country ‘appreciates the continued efforts’ the American administration is making to nd the conflict.
     “The ministry called for Israel and the Palestinian Authority ‘to carefully study the American vision for achieving peace, find out all its dimensions, and open channels of dialogue to resume negotiations under American auspices.’
     “Saudi Arabia and Qatar also ‘appreciated’ Trump’s efforts. The Saudi kingdom echoed Egypt in supporting ‘the initiation and direct negotiations of peace between the Palestinian and Israeli sides under the auspices of the United States of America.’ Its foreign ministry also emphasized its encouragement ‘to address any differences on any aspects of the plan through negotiations.’
     “Although leaders in the Arab Sunni world did not fully endorse the plan, neither did they call for strikes or ‘days of rage’ to protest the deal. Notably, they did not publicly attack any of its pro-Israel particulars, such as Israeli sovereignty over all the Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley, or a united Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, with the status quo maintained on the Temple Mount.
      - - -
     “The Middle East is now divided differently than it was in the past . . . Rather than the Israelis against the Palestinians, with the Arab world solidly behind them, now it’s the moderate Arab states, Israel and the United States against Iran and its allies.
     “Jordan proved an exception to this rule. . .
      - - -
     “With its majority Palestinian population, analysts say that Jordan fears that it will be asked to take in hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees if the two-state solution is abandoned, that it will lose its special status on the Temple Mount and that it will face unrest from its population if it is seen as abandoning the cause of a Palestinian state.” (Ref. 12)

     In Europe, the reality of Palestinian-Arab uncompromising obstinacy has finally begun to sink in and formerly unwavering support for Palestinian-Arab demands and threats is now showing signs of ending. “Several members of the European Parliament endorsed President Donald Trump’s Deal of the Century peace plan and criticized the Palestinian Authority (PA) for its rejectionist attitude toward any diplomatic resolution. [Emphasis mine]
      - - -
     “While many Israeli officials expressed willingness to give the process a chance and move forward with it, the PA rejected it completely, even before its publication.
     “MEP {Member of the European Parliament} Charlie Weimers of Sweden, a member of the European Parliament’s (EP) Foreign Affairs Committee, {said} in a statement that he welcomes the U.S. ‘peace proposal for a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Palestinians as a positive step towards a resolution of the conflict.’
     “He noted that ‘lasting peace can only be achieved through direct bilateral negotiations’ and that ‘it is no longer an option for the Palestinian Authority to simply shout ‘1,000 times no’ [and] boycott any peace initiative, [with] the international community [expected] to accept such behavior’ [Emphasis mine]
     “Weimers was referring to PA head Mahmoud Abbas’ response to the publication of the Deal of the Century.
     “ ‘We say a thousand times: no, no and no to the deal of the century,’ Abbas told the PA leadership in Ramallah . . .
      - - -
     “MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen of the Netherlands, the vice-chair of the EP delegation for relations with Israel, {said} that the ‘U.S. vision for peace in the Middle East deserves serious consideration, being the most realistic and concrete proposal in many years.
     “ ‘If the PA bluntly rejects any proposal, it makes itself unbelievable,’ he cautioned, implying that the Palestinians are losing credibility on the international stage.” [Emphasis mine] (Ref. 13)

     And what about Israeli Arabs, those Arabs who have chosen to live in the State of Israel rather than move to the Palestinian-Arab controlled West Bank and Gaza Strip? “Residents of the ‘Triangle’ of Israeli-Arab towns and villages in the Haifa District have slammed US President Donald Trump’s Mideast peace plan, according to which their communities would be transferred to a Palestinian state . . .
     “According to the Trump {Mideast peace plan} these communities, which largely self-identify as Palestinian, were originally designated to fall under Jordanian control during the negotiations of the Armistice Line of 1949, but ultimately were retained by Israel for military reasons that have since been mitigated. The {Mideast peace plan} contemplates the possibility, subject to agreement of the parties that the borders of Israel will be redrawn such that the Triangle Communities become part of the State of Palestine.
     “ ‘This is a nightmare that cannot be implemented,’ [Emphasis mine] Taibeh Mayor Shuaa Massarweh Mansour said. . .
     “ ‘Peace is made with the enemy. We are residents of the state, and we are not the enemy,’ Mansour said.
      - - -
     “. . . it’s clear that living in the democratic Jewish state is preferable to living under the PA, where those who oppose the regime are tortured and/or murdered.
     “Indeed, the situation is explained in {a} video, . . . featuring a resident of the Arab neighborhood of Sur Baher in eastern Jerusalem, who said in an Al Jazeera interview that 90 percent of residents have no faith in the PA and that ‘we identify more with the Israeli side.’
     “ ‘We want to stay with the blue [Israeli] ID card, living in east Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty,’” he affirms.
     “ ‘The Palestinian Authority did not succeed in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] and it won’t succeed in east Jerusalem.’ “ (Ref. 14)

     Clearly, those Arabs who aren’t in fear of their lives from the oppressive PA and Hamas regimes understand the reality of living in the Holy Land. They would rather live free as Israeli Arabs than as cannon fodder for the Terrorist leaders of the PA and Hamas. Without Fatah and Hamas looking over their shoulders, they are saying so.

     Let’s remember that Israel acquired the West Bank and Gaza in a defensive war in 1967. Let’s also remember the many times in the past that Palestinian-Arabs and other Arab leaders rejected offers of statehood and refused to negotiate. Regardless of what borders were offered, Palestinian-Arab leaders have consistently refused the state they claim to want.

     What is outlined under President Trump’s Mideast peace plan is not an annexation of territory, it’s an application of Israeli sovereignty based on preexisting rights to the land. With regard to the provisions in the plan concerning Jerusalem, a point that is often overlooked is that the Palestinian-Arabs have never had control of or sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem, and it’s never been an Arab capital. There is no historical basis for the insistence on a Palestinian-Arab capital in Jerusalem. Yet, this plan generously provides for a Palestinian-Arab capital in the sections of Jerusalem to the north and to the east of the existing security barrier. This is, in fact, a major concession by Israel.

     According to the plan, about 97% of Palestinian-Arabs will live within contiguous Palestinian-Arab territory. Those that don’t, will not be forced to move and will become citizens of the “State of Palestine”. The territory that will be allocated to the Palestinian-Arabs for a future state will be comparable in size to that of the pre-1967 Jordanian-controlled West Bank and Egyptian-controlled Gaza. The plan envisions new Palestinian-Arab controlled territory along the Israeli border with Egypt. In other words, this plan conforms to the oft-repeated idea of “a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders with land swaps.”

     It has also been made clear that there will be no forced population transfers on either side. The plan states that Palestinians living outside of the contiguous Palestinian territory “shall have the option to remain in place unless they choose otherwise.”

     The reality that that should be apparent to any thinking person is that nations of the world are moving away from the decades old failed policy of trying to appease the misnamed Palestinian-Arab moderates who have been thwarting every peace attempt made in the 70 years of Israel’s existence. Several nations are now coming to the realization that if there is ever to be peace between Israel and the Palestinian-Arabs, it will be in spite of and not because of closet terrorists like Abbas. The U.S. has taken bold steps, particularly the acknowledgement that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem to start the process. The process was continued with the announcement in March 2019 that the United States will recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. As Mahmound Abbas continues to play his fiddle of stubbornness, parts of Judea and Samaria are now slipping away from him. While Abbas rejects opportunity after opportunity to reach agreement with Israel, the portion of West Bank that could become the basis of an independent “Palestinian” entity is shrinking more and more as Jews are returning to their Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria. Abbas and his murderous henchmen remain oblivious to the incontrovertible facts staring them in the face. They are losing, and the longer they continue to procrastinate, the more they will lose! [15]

     Previously, I wrote: “In recent months, the United States, under the leadership of its president, Donald Trump, has led an unprecedented movement throughout the world to reverse the decades-old delegitimization of the State of Israel and to reverse the blind obsession with believing that Palestinian{-Arab} leaders, the Palestinian Authority, Fatah, Hamas and that largest obstacle to an Israeli/Palestinian peace settlement, Mahmoud Abbas, were ever serious about wanting peace with Israel. Several nations are now coming to the realization that if there is ever to be peace between Israel and the ‘Palestinians’, it will be in spite of and not because of closet terrorists like Abbas. It has taken bold steps, particularly the acknowledgement that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and his decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem by President Trump to start the process. President Trump’s initiative may be the catalyst to finally start bringing common sense to the Israel-Palestinian problem!” (Ref. 16) The release of President Trump’s Mideast peace plan has now expedited this movement. The Palestinian-Arab leaders can continue to keep their eyes closed to the reality of what is transpiring, but they cannot reverse the events that will be overtaking them. The Israeli people realize that attempts to appease the fanatics attacking them are futile and that there is no one in power in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with which to deal. Reality: Israel will move ahead based upon its own interests.

     In a sense, Abbas’ intransigence and immediate rejection of the Trump peace plan is a blessing. Once more, it can be said that, “the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” Abbas’ refusal to even consider the peace plan releases Israel from the obligation of conducting fruitless and meaningless sham peace negotiations with those who will never agree to peace with Israel. With Abbas’ refusal, Israel is free to implement the peace plan unilaterally, a peace plan that, as it now stands, is highly favorable to the State of Israel and the Jewish people living there.

     The Palestinian-Arab refusal is okay. “It’s actually very okay because the biblical promise of a Jewish homeland means the entirety of Israel belongs to the Jewish people. The hilltops of the Shomron, the Judean hills, Gaza, Hebron, the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan, and the Jordan Valley – all these have always been part of Israel . . .
     “The Six-Day War of 1967 brought all of Israel under Jewish control. ‘Settlers’were encouraged to settle the lands of Judea and Samaria, which for 20 years had been under Jordanian control. Today, there are over 350,000 Jews living in flourishing communities like Kedumim, Shilo, Bet-El, Itamar, Efrat, and Elon Moreh. Businesses are flourishing. Prize-winning wineries, farms, cattle herding, and more are part of every day life. What have the Arabs to show for their efforts? {NOTHING!}
     “Terrorism and educating young and old to hate Jews are the main themes of Arab life. Tragically, though, the EU and the UN support the PA’s claims to Israel’s land. Truth has been turned on its head as Israel is seen as the oppressor in the ‘occupied territories’ and the ‘poor Palestinians’ are at the mercy of its evil devices.
     “. . . PA President Mahmoud Abbas has shown that he has no interest in the peace plan. He won’t even talk to President Trump on the phone, and PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has denounced the plan . . .
     “Once the PA’s rejection is official, let’s hope the deal is torn up and negotiations immediately end.” (Ref. 17) Israel can then move ahead on it own, doing what it needs to do and the Palestinian-Arab Terrorists be damned!

     Perhaps as a final realization that reality has come to the Holy Land, “In an embarrassment for the Palestinian Authority, its president, Mahmoud Abbas, pulled a planned resolution to reject the Trump administration’s peace plan, which he had intended to put before the UN Security Council . . .
    ”According to diplomats, the resolution didn’t have the nine out of 15 votes to win support, barring a veto . . . That veto would have certainly come anyway from the U.S.” (Ref. 18)

     Responding to Abbas’ failed attempt to get a U.N. resolution to reject the Trump administration’s peace plan, “Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon slammed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas at the United Nations Security Council . . . saying that if Abbas really wanted peace, he would be in Jerusalem talking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not at the United Nations. [Emphasis mine]
     “ ‘Progress toward peace will not be made so long as President Abbas remains in his position. Only when he steps down can Israel and the Palestinians move forward,’ Danon said. ‘A leader who chooses rejectionism, incitement and glorification of terror can never be a real partner for peace.’ “ (Ref. 19)

     The Mideast peace plan put forth by President Trump will not bring peace between Israel and the Palestinian-Arabs. But, it could contribute significantly to an improvement in the conditions that exist. It can lead to the establishment of something that is reasonably close to an independent Palestinian state - a state with almost full sovereignty over some 70 percent of the West Bank. While this Palestinian state would not be completely sovereign, it would be mostly sovereign, and the elements of the occupation that so gall the Palestinians in their day-to-day lives, i.e., the restrictions on movement, construction and economic growth, would end. On the Israeli side, the plan will meet most of its security concerns. It will reduce Israel’s burden in having to police the West bank and it would end the “settlement” question. Perhaps, most importantly it might force the Palestinian-Arabs and the rest of the world to face up to the reality of the decades old conflict. This reality is: The Palestinian-Arabs will not succeed in their efforts to eradicate the State of Israel and eliminate all Jews in the Middle East.

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