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U.S. Peace Plan: The Palestinian Leadership Has Very Little Leverage
(Bloomberg) Zev Chafets - The U.S. peace plan is not just another diplomatic effort at "peace processing." It is a recognition that the Hundred Years War between the Jews and Arabs is over. The Palestinian leadership has very little leverage. A refusal to engage will be an invitation to the U.S. and Israel to unilaterally establish a new order in the West Bank. Some Palestinian leaders hope to do nothing and outwait Trump. But this administration has at least two years, and perhaps six, to establish irreversible facts. Another option is appealing to the UN, the International Criminal Court or the EU. These appeals will be met with sympathy, resolutions, declarations and diplomatic posturing, but not more. Once, Palestinians could count on Israeli supporters of the Oslo Accords. But the Second Intifada, the Arab Spring, and the example of the quasi-state of Gaza have discredited Oslo's solutions. Nor can the Palestinians expect help from their fellow Arabs. The two most important Arab countries, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, will certainly proclaim their opposition to the Trump Plan. They will even more certainly do nothing to weaken their ties to the U.S. The Palestinians do have another choice. They can accept reality, sit down at the table and bargain for the best possible terms. Like it or not, the Trump Deal is coming. And neither time nor the balance of power is on the Palestinian side. The writer served for five years as director of the Israel Government Press Office.