Forget Israeli-Palestinian peace. The damage done to Israeli-Palestinian relations during President Trump’s years in office has been so significant that a permanent status agreement feels out of reach for the foreseeable future.
At today’s confirmation hearing, Secretary of State-Designate Antony Blinken spoke about prospects for a two-state solution, “I think realistically it is hard to see near-term prospects for moving forward on that”. Blinken is right. There are no quick-fixes, especially after the Trump administration cut off all aid to the Palestinians, closed the Palestinian mission in Washington, and released a “peace” plan that essentially gave Israel a carte-blanche to annex large parts of the West Bank.
