If we are to rely on past precedents, we still only have a partial idea of everything discussed between U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting in New York on Wednesday. In their previous meeting, after all, less than a year ago in Washington, Netanyahu informed Trump that the Mossad had stolen Iran's nuclear archives, which apparently contributed to the president's decision to quit the nuclear deal with the Islamic republic. At the time, neither the press nor the public had any inkling about the darting operation and therefore we must assume that today, too, there are things we don't know.
Having said that, we can certainly address what was discussed in the public portion of the meeting. For the first time, the U.S. president set a target date for the unveiling of his peace plan, intimated it would include the problematic element known as a "Palestinian state" and implied, by saying "maybe Bibi won't like it," that the prime minister is against the idea – which he should be.
For Trump, but not only for Trump, neither the dates nor the words are set in stone and therefore it's entirely uncertain that "the deal of the century" will be presented within the aforementioned time frame. What's important, however, isn't the timing, rather the substance. And as far as substance goes we can rest assured that the plan drafted by Trump's team – Jared Kushner, Jason Greenblatt, David Friedman, Mike Pence, John Bolton and Mike Pompeo – will be exceedingly comfortable from Israel's perspective.
Since Israel's establishment, no U.S. president has surrounded himself with a circle so committed to the Jewish state, so loving and supportive of it. Of course, as Trump himself has reiterated at every turn, and which he has backed up with action for the past two years, there has never been a president in the White House with such strong and uncompromising support for Israel.
As such, Israel has to respond with an almost automatic "yes" to everything Trump proposes. Israel won't have to adopt Trump's plan because it fears him. Nor because the ideas he will present will necessarily be the best. Israel has to accept Trump's proposal because there will never be a more favorable president or team of advisers in the White House. In the American political landscape, there simply isn't anything farther to the right than this special group.
In any case, the Palestinians, as per their custom, will reject the American plan and we, too, will have to provide our own reservations. The main reservation, to which Netanyahu alluded Wednesday evening, is over the idea of a "state" for the Palestinians in the full sense of the term. Israel will of course also have to insist on other vital security interests and rights.
But all things considered, we're almost at the halfway point of Trump's four miraculous years in the White House and we don't know he'll win another term. After him, even if the Republicans remain in power, it can only be worse. True statesmanship isn't about indefinitely postponing the inevitable; it is about maximizing the best opportunity you'll ever have. Trump's window, with its immense advantages and minuscule disadvantages, could close shut in 25 months. A wise leader would exhaust the advantages to their fullest.
