U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's speech to the Knesset last week brought a smile to the faces of most Israelis, including the Jewish lawmakers who were there for his address. His reiteration that "if both sides agree, the United States of America will support a two-state solution" was well received. The right-wing members applauded the first part of the statement, while the left-wing ones praised the latter.
Various commentators were quick to point out there was nothing new in Pence's speech. As far as the specific contents go, that is true.
However, as Aaron Miller, a U.S. adviser on Israeli-Arab negotiations under a number of administrations, so aptly said, "Mike Pence's trip was less important for what it accomplished than what it reflected and represented: Under Trump, the U.S.-Israel relationship has undergone a transition from a valued special relationship to one that's seemingly exclusive."
Even if this statement is a slight exaggeration, one of the unique aspects of the Trump administration, as reflected in Pence's speech, is that despite adopting its predecessor's objections to construction "beyond the Green Line," it does not believe that supporting Israel's fundamental demands on issues such as security, the demand for recognition of Israel as the Jewish state and the Jewish people's fundamental rights to their historical homeland disqualifies the U.S. from the role of impartial mediator, nor does it lessen American determination to bring about a just solution to the conflict on the basis of mutual compromise.
In fact, it is the near-hysterical speeches Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and in Cairo, in addition to the actions of the Palestinians in general, that confirm the verity of Miller's remarks.
In these vulgar speeches, Abbas arrogantly and unrealistically rejected any American role in efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His words practically amounted to spitting in the face of the country that financially enables the existence of the Palestinian Authority he heads. He also issued a radical and ignorant falsification of world and Jewish history that served to pull the rug out from under any possible attempt at compromise.
The people who refer to Abbas' speeches as "fake history" are missing the point. Unlike the former Soviet leaders who knowingly rewrote history for their own political or personal gain, Abbas and many of his associates genuinely believe this falsified version of history. That is why the Palestinians have torpedoed and will continue to torpedo any diplomatic initiative that requires any type of practical or ideological concession, whether on the issue of refugees or in the recognition of Israel as the Jewish nation state, or in other words, the basic right of the Jewish people to the state.
One should not doubt Trump's genuine belief that history has granted him the role of leader who brings an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What is less clear is whether he has internalized reality or the conclusions that must necessarily be reached on the peace process. It is difficult to see how the goal of "ultimate peace" can overcome the obstacle of Palestinian obstinacy. As Shalom Lipner, a former strategic adviser to the Prime Minister's Office, wrote this week, "Creating unrealistic expectations of a breakthrough when conditions are not conducive to progress is far from a cost-free exercise."
How will Trump respond if he discovers that his expectations were unrealistic? Would he demand that, as a result of the "exclusive relationship," Israel take steps it is unwilling to take?
One can assume that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a sober and responsible statesman, was looking to address this issue when, both on stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos and in conversations on the sidelines with Trump, he raised his proposals for the promotion of a practical solution for the whole issue. This would involve the recognition of a Palestinian entity with broad but limited powers on the issue of security, which would have the ability to self-govern without posing a threat to Israel, and without Israel annexing the Palestinians as citizens or subjects.
