What Trump, Bibi and Gantz really want from the 'Deal of the Century'

For Trump, the unveiling of the plan is a strategic election ploy to shore up his support among Evangelicals and right-wing Jewish voters.

By DAVID BRINN
A combination picture shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel November 17, 2019, and leader of Blue and White party Benny Gantz in Tel Aviv, Israel November 20, 2019 (photo credit: REUTERS//NIR ELIAS/AMIR COHEN)
A combination picture shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel November 17, 2019, and leader of Blue and White party Benny Gantz in Tel Aviv, Israel November 20, 2019
(photo credit: REUTERS//NIR ELIAS/AMIR COHEN)
Henry Kissinger, no stranger to long, drawn-out negotiations with Israeli leaders, once said Israel has no foreign policy, only domestic politics.
Those are words to remember this week as we watch the leaders of the two largest parties – Prime Minister and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz – arrive for their individual meetings with US President Donald Trump at the White House to hear about his long-gestating peace plan.
For all the principal players, it’s apparent that the peace plan – and its minuscule chances of actually being accepted and implemented – is at the top of their agenda. But their concerns are first and foremost domestic ones.
For Trump, the unveiling of the plan is a strategic election ploy to shore up his support among Evangelicals and right-wing Jewish voters.
For Netanyahu, it’s a welcome diversion from his legal woes and the immunity hearings slated for this week in the Knesset. And the photo op in the Oval Office discussing the plan that is – according to all indications – overwhelmingly sympathetic to Israel, can only be a boon to his campaign.
For Gantz – who managed to brilliantly come up with a plan that enabled him to accept Trump’s invitation but not appear together with Netanyahu as a subservient third fiddle – this week presents an opportunity to position himself as someone of prime ministerial caliber, meeting one-on-one with the leader of the free world.
All three hope to emerge from this week’s meetings perceived as winners – Trump as Israel’s biggest defender and author of the “Deal of the Century”; Netanyahu as the only Israeli prime minister who can deal with the intricacies of keeping the country secure while trying to smother his indictments with authority and a firm handshake with the president; and Gantz trying to show that there actually is an alternative to Netanyahu.
If all three get their way, they’ll go back to their corners and place the peace plan in their bottom drawers. Netanyahu and Gantz, sharing basically the same views on security and Palestinian statehood, will gird their loins for the third election – with the peace process being near the bottom of the list of issues on their agendas.
Trump will send his aides on perfunctory meetings to try to futilely engage the Palestinians and neighboring countries. But the glare of impeachment and the launching of the campaign for the November elections will also sink the plan deep in the shadows of any American’s attention.
Trump, Netanyahu and Gantz may benefit greatly by this week’s spotlight on the peace plan. But the losers will be the Israeli electorate, and especially the Palestinian people.
They’ve once again, due to their own incompetence and to flawed strategy by the US, been marginalized and are not even a party to the peace plan, which is about them. From outright rejection to more ominous, violent outcomes, the Palestinians are not going to relate to the plan with anything but scorn.
For Israelis, the noise over the peace plan will divert voters from the vital issues facing the country – from health care to education – in an election process that is becoming more absurd with every round.
The insertion of the “Deal of the Century” into the equation at such a sensitive point is only muddling up an already muddled Israeli campaign.
Granted, if the US was planning on waiting until Israel was able to form a government, the plan might never be released. But there was no reason not to wait until after March 2. Trump’s whim has forced Netanyahu and Gantz along for the ride.
But after the handshakes, smiles and platitudes in Washington, each of them needs to return home and do his best to convince voters that he will be the better leader for the country, as it faces fateful decisions.
Whether it’s domestic politics or foreign policy, the “Deal of the Century” needs to be put it in its place.