Trump’s talk of Mideast peace lacks specifics

US President Donald Trump met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas for the first time in the White House on Wednesday. Trump is confident he could broker a Middle East peace deal as he told Abbas that the agreement between Israel and Palestine is “maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years.”
“Throughout my life I have always heard that a Middle East peace agreement is the toughest deal to close,” he said in a statement in the Roosevelt room alongside Abbas. “We will get it done,” he added.
For his part, Abbas praised Trump’s “courageous stewardship” and his “great negotiating ability. Abbas said the Palestinians’ “strategic choice” is to bring about peace by establishing a Palestinian state coexisting with Israel based on 1967 borders and with a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. Abbas stressed that it was time for Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian land and people and to recognize a Palestinian state. The Palestinian leader also said that achieving a deal would aid broader Arab and other global initiatives important to the US including fighting IS group.
In the Middle East crisis, Trump sees an opportunity to test his deal-making skills. But it has its pitfalls too. Every president since George H.W Bush has tried and failed. The major problem is that the demands of both sides are not really compatible. The occupied territories and rampant constructions of settler homes are the biggest hurdles. The Israelis consider Jerusalem its capital. The Palestinians want a portion of the city as the capital of their eventual state. The Israelis demand a semi-permanent military presence in the West Bank, which is not acceptable to the Palestinians.
The Trump-Abbas meeting, like all the previous meeting between US and Palestinian leaders, offered nothing concrete. Although Trump made a proclamation that he intends to “get the deal done”, there was lack of statements on how it could get “done”. Trump himself is giving self-contradictory statements. In February, Trump said during a news conference with Netanyahu, “I’m looking at two states and one state … I can live with either one.” The Republican leader never explained what he meant by “one state,” and how would the Palestinians and Israelis live there.
The American president wants to broker a peace deal but he is not committed to the idea of a Palestinian state. There has been the fastest rate of Israel’s settlement during Trump’s 100 days in office compared to any other US president. Israel has announced more than 10,000 house units despite the fact that Trump warned Netanyahu to go slow on building the settlements. Trump has declared that he intends to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, which flies in the face of US policy and international law.
It is an illusion to think about peace when Israel continues to steal Palestinian land with impunity. And negotiation cannot ever succeed without forcing Israel to abide by international law.