Donald Trump and Israel

In a recent debate, Donald Trump said of the Israel-Palestine problem : “Let me be sort of a neutral guy.” Marco Rubio attacked Trump for saying he would be neutral in negotiating a peace agreement : “There is no such thing as an honest broker in that.” Earlier, Rubio attacked Trump for saying Israel might have to make sacrifices to secure a peace agreement. But, Trump’s position is actually realistic. His statement about being neutral was his effort to present himself as a deal-maker, not wanting to give details about who was at fault for what, not taking a public position that would make future negotiations more difficult. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a bias in favor of one side or the other. It's clear from his comments about the Iran nuclear deal and other issues that he is just as “pro-Israel” as any other candidate. ~~~~~ An "honest broker," Senator Rubio? This has been the policy of every US President since 1967 -- the US hasn’t been an honest broker between Israel and the Palestinians since President Eisenhower's stance in the 1950s. Anyone who has paid the slightest attention will know that the US has always favored Israel. But, optimistic outsider that he is, Trump is at least willing to consider securing a peace settlement, something everybody else in the world has long since abandoned. And, negotiator par excellence that he is, Trump knows that any attempt at forging an Israel-Palestine peace will require that he occasionally be the honest broker. Trump said at the same debate that it would be the most difficult negotiation ever undertaken and that he could not promise success. ~~~~~ The Palestine Papers -- a controversial collection of confidential documents from the office of main PLO negotiator, Sa’eb Erekat, about the Israeli--Palestinian peace process -- were leaked by Al Jazeera in January 2011. The Papers, authenticated by Israel, reveal that the Palestinians believed the US acted more like Israel's lawyer than an honest broker. In 2009, Erekat informed US Middle East envoy George Mitchell that Mahmoud Abbas would step down as Palestinian Authority leader because he saw no way forward in the peace process. He was persuaded to change his mind. But, the revelations in the Palestine Papers dashed everyone's hopes that President Obama was somehow different, and that the United States under Obama would be the honest broker needed for peace. ~~~~~ A 2015 poll of Jewish Americans shows that 49% disapprove of the way President Obama is handling US-Israel relations, 45% disapprove of the way Obama is handling the threat posed by global terrorism, and half disapprove of the Iran deal and have no confidence that it will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. But, the most surprising poll from the 2016 campaign, taken in Israel, shows that 25% of Israeli Jews would vote for Donald Trump, who was by far Israelis' favorite GOP candidate. A plurality even thought he would be best at “representing Israel’s interests,” better than Hillary Clinton, with her decades of advocacy at the highest levels of government. Yet, the big question looming over this week’s American Israel Public Affairs Committee convention is what effect Trump’s speech to the delegates will have long term, because Israeli Jews are far more appreciative of Trump's tough foreign policy positions than American Jews appear to be. This presents a problem for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has successfully aligned Israel with the GOP. Trump is rejected by the GOP establishment, such as Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who are Netanyahu’s “base” in Washington. Netanyahu's job, if Trump is elected, will be to balance the GOP’s pro-Israel foreign policy elite with the Republican electorate. ~~~~~ Dear readers, the Anti-Defamation League's CEO wrote in Time that it will redirect money Trump donated previously to anti-discrimination education programs toward “anti-bias education programs that address exactly the kind of stereotyping and scapegoating he has injected into this political season." Grow up, ADL. Trump is your friend.