After boldly announcing his groundbreaking peace proposal at a White House press conference together with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at which he spoke of a division of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (the so-called West Bank), President Trump is now confronted with a firm, and increasingly hostile rejectionist bloc that includes the Palestinian Authority (PA), with all of its terrorist components, including Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. In addition, the support in the rest of the Arab world is certainly not what he had hoped for.
Which presents him with a difficult question:
Should he let Netanyahu go forward with declaring sovereignty over the areas promised to it in the plan, or should he let his senior advisor Jared Kushner continue to toss additional carrots to the Palestinians until they see the light?
Middle East expert David Rubin is the former Mayor of Shiloh, Israel (in Samaria) and author of “Trump and the Jews”.
Suggested Q&A:
1. Why is President Trump’s peace proposal better than past proposals from previous presidents?
Answer: The main distinction is the proposal to grant Israeli sovereignty over the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, the so-called West Bank and the Jordan Valley. No American administration until now has ever affirmed Israel’s historic rights to any parts of its biblical heartland. This is indeed a bold move by President Trump.
2. Is that the reason that the Palestinians have rejected the plan?
Answer: They have always rejected peace plans that give Israel any semblance of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, as well as Israel’s capital city, Jerusalem, even plans that have given them far more than this one. An additional problem for them is that this plan requires the PA to stop paying salaries to terrorists. For example, my then three-year-old son and I were wounded by Palestinian terrorists eighteen years ago. The terrorists are in jail, but they have been receiving salaries from the Palestinian Authority for many years. Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the PA unequivocally refuses to stop those payments.
3. According to this plan, would your town of Shiloh, where you served as Mayor, be recognized as sovereign Israel?
Answer: It would be, and that is an historical justice in a town that was the capital city of Israel for 369 years in biblical times, but that has had a very disproportionate amount of terror victims in the past two decades. However, according to this plan, the dangers of traveling on the surrounding roads in Samaria would be greatly increased if sovereignty were to be granted to the terrorist organizations that would comprise the proposed Palestinian state.
4. According to your analysis, based on the statements of the Palestinians and other Arab leaders, it won’t even come to that, so what is going to happen next?
Answer: The big question is, “Will Trump give up this illusion of the Palestinians coming to the peace table, and therefore, let Netanyahu go forward with declaring sovereignty over the areas promised to Israel in the plan, or should the president let his senior advisor Jared Kushner continue to plead with the Palestinians until they change their minds?
5. Given that difficult question, what would you recommend to President Trump?
Answer: The Palestinians are continuing to spit in Trump’s face, even calling him curses that I cannot repeat on the air, far worse than those that we’ve heard from Rashida Tlaib. Since historical precedent teaches us that they aren’t going to change their minds, he should tell Jared Kushner to stop pandering to them and he should give Netanyahu the green light to declare Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. That would be real progress that would dispossess the so-called Palestinians of their unrealistic expectations.
6. So, bottom line: Can peace be attained without the Palestinians?
Answer: Yes, and it should.
7. In your book, you wrote about President Trump’s role in Middle East Peace. Where can people get a copy of your book “Trump and the Jews”?
Answer: They can go to www.DavidRubinIsrael.com or just go to Amazon.com and type in the words “Trump and the Jews”.
Bio: David Rubin, former Mayor of Shiloh Israel, is the author of the book, “Trump and the Jews” and five other books. Rubin is the founder and president of Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund, established after he and his then three-year-old son were wounded in a terror attack. He can be found at www.DavidRubinIsrael.com or at http://www.ShilohIsraelChildren.org
