Despite President Donald Trump’s insistence that Israeli leaders must not take unilateral steps, and that his peace plan was based on a two-state solution, reactions published by US media showed a wide belief that the “Deal of the Century” was obviously aimed at ensuring Israel’s interests and providing an electoral advantage for both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, what is striking is the shy coverage of Trump’s announcement on Tuesday by major American media outlets. With the exception of pro-Trump Fox News station, which broadcast his entire press conference and part of Netanyahu’s speech, the other channels hardly reported the conference.
Some considered this a partial failure of Trump’s efforts to draw attention away from his impeachment file, which remained in the spotlight on major TV screens.
“The plan gives Israel most of what it wants and the Trump administration is trying to get at least an Arab no-objection to it,” said Aaron David Miller, a former presidential advisor to both the Democratic and Republican parties. “The Israelis will say yes, or yes, but, and the Palestinians will say no.”
Dennis Ross, a former US mediator in the Middle East peace file, said that the prospects for the plan would depend heavily on the reactions of the Arab leaders.
If a number of Arab leaders consider the plan to be good, then it may have a chance, regardless of the Palestinian rejection, he commented.
Martin Indyk, who served as the special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in 2013 and 2014 led by then-Secretary of State John Kerry, said that it was clear that the plan was in the interest of one party and not a possible peace plan. He also described it as a flagrant interference in the Israeli elections.
