President Trump’s Deal of the Century has officially green-lighted Israeli annexation of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria (about a third of the so-called West Bank), while also giving a clear path to conditional statehood for the Palestinian Authority (PA) in a majority of those territories.
Despite the generous offer of independence and $50 billion in funding, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has rejected it, declaring, “We say 1,000 ‘No’s to this deal,” and coining it “the slap of the century”.
Israelis are debating what to do next. After threats from Palestinian Authority and Hamas officials, Israeli combat troops are on high alert in Judea and Samaria to counter attempted terror attacks on Jewish communities.
Several leading Arab countries have given their qualified support for the plan, but given the fierce Palestinian opposition, can this plan actually succeed?
Middle East expert David Rubin is the former Mayor of Shiloh (in Samaria) and author of “Trump and the Jews”.
Suggested Q&A:
1. What is groundbreaking and positive about this proposed peace deal?
Answer: According to most reports, the main thing that is groundbreaking is the proposal to grant Israel sovereignty over the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, the so-called West Bank. 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. Do Israelis support this Deal of the Century?
Answer: It’s a very mixed bag, because it also gives the PA a path to sovereignty over a majority of Judea and Samaria. If they had accepted the plan, it could have been a mortal danger to the Jewish communities, many of which would have become Jewish enclaves surrounded by a hostile Palestinian state. Now that Abbas has rejected the plan, Netanyahu may feel free to unilaterally declare sovereignty and Trump would be unlikely to object.
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 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. What do you think of the comments that the Palestinians deserve their own sovereign state?
Answer: The recognition of so-called Palestinian sovereignty in large swathes of Judea and Samaria is very problematic. No people deserve to have their own sovereign country less than the Palestinians, who never were sovereign here and who have encouraged and financed the worst waves of terrorism in Israel’s history.
5. Is Israel expecting a similar outbreak of terror after the harsh threats from the Palestinian leadership?
Answer: Israeli combat troops are on high alert, but despite the political earthquake, as exemplified in those threats, I am convinced that the violence will be sporadic and limited. However, steps may be taken by the Palestinian Authority, for example, breaking off security cooperation with Israel. And that would be a good thing. They can’t be trusted anyhow.
6. 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
