Trump’s Peace Plan Serves Domestic Political Compulsions, Hands Netanyahu A Lifeline

The fact that President Donald Trump's peace plan is not likely to be accepted by the Palestinian people, nor bring peace to the Middle East is something that may be of secondary importance to him. As Arun K. Singh, former ambassador to the U.S. and Israel, tells Surya Gangadharan and Ashwin Ahmad, the plan's aim is to address the U.S. president's political compulsions and show him as a person who comes up with different ideas to major world problems. And by virtue of giving Israel virtually everything — the plan recognizes Jerusalem as the capital, Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights — Trump has not only sought to win over the Jewish vote in the U.S. who have traditionally voted Democrat, but also reassure his core evangelical Christian community vote-bank at home. Trump aside, the plan also offers Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a lifeline. Troubled by allegations of corruption at home, the embattled Netanyahu can show the plan as concessions he was able to demand from the U.S. president and succeed.