by Alex Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies—
Information regarding President Trump’s “plan of the century” is vague, with Kushner and other administration sources saying only that it will require “compromises from both sides” and that in the words of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, it will “represent a significant change from the model that’s been used.”
Our first suggestion is therefore to not reveal the plan but to continue floating rumors and possibilities as a means of elucidating intentions.
Palestinian PM Shtayyah has already announced the plan will be “born dead” and that it is “financial blackmail.” But Shtayyah also hinted that the Palestinian Authority would seek to develop the Palestinian economy and to reduce dependence on Israel.
This leads to our next suggestion. Outside of the plan itself, American policy should offer development aid to specific sectors of the Palestinian economy in exchange for an enhanced version of the current status quo. Aid and normalization should be exchanged for security.
Importantly, US aid should not provided to the corrupt Palestinian Authority or even through traditional American means such as USAID, but rather through bilateral mechanisms directly to Palestinian industries through trade organizations and free trade agreements. Expediting visas, educational exchanges, arranging lines of credit, and other mechanisms that provide access to US markets will do more to develop industries and prosperity than top-down aid in the form of money to corrupt oligarchs. Continue Reading…
