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Challenges Posed by the "Deal of the Century"
The current international scene is witnessing changes, the most important of which is the United States' retreat from its international obligations and adopting a policy of "backseat driving," accompanied by gradual withdrawal from the Middle East, thereby jeopardizing its relations with Europe, Russia and China. Furthermore, Washington has not been able to mobilize international consensus on Trump's plan, which could prompt the United States to implement it unilaterally, putting into question its ability to successfully resolve the issue.
Among the Arab regimes, the so-called Iranian threat pushed them to reassess their regional interests and priorities regarding the Palestinian issue. They found common interests with Israel to confront common threats, in contradiction of their official position. Despite this, the Palestinian issue remains popular among the peoples of these regimes, making it difficult for the Arab leaders to pay the political price of any rapprochement with Israel without a resolution of the Palestinian issue (Al-Zaanoon, 2020).
The Trump administration's negotiating approach is based on two pillars: 1) managing negotiations with Arab countries and normalizing their relations with Israel in order to confront Iran; and 2) forcing the Palestinians to accept a fait accompli. This approach shows that the U.S. is incapable of leading a successful political process. The deal represents the Israeli right-wing's vision, which makes it a U.S. formulation of an Israeli project that opposes the establishment of an independent Palestinian state for the sake of Israel's "security" and its strategic interests (Rantawi, 2019).
The U.S. Administration used a fait accompli policy to impose its view, transforming the deal from "conflict resolution initiative" to a "surrender document" (Abrash, 2019). This only confirms that the current U.S. Administration lacks the ability to make strategic transformations due to its inability to persuade, its ignorance of the complexities of Middle East politics, and its lack of tools necessary to impose the deal.
While the Israeli government has not yet submitted any official response to Trump's plan, Netanyahu is facing intense pressure from the right-wing ministers and settlers to unilaterally annex the Jordan Valley, the area north of the Dead Sea, and the settlements - a step the U.S. Administration has opposed (Eichner, 2020). Moreover, the Israeli security forces have expressed concern...