FEBRUARY 6 • 2020 | 23
O
n Jan. 28, President Donald
Trump announced his
long-awaited Middle East
peace plan with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu by his side.
The Jewish News asked Ron Stockton,
a professor of political science at the
University of Michigan-Dearborn who
teaches classes on the conflict, for some
insight into the plan. He said he has little
faith the plan will achieve its stated goals.
One of your research
and teaching
areas is the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.
Can you provide
some background on
recent peace initiatives?
Stockton: I have followed all these
various plans over the decades and
have watched how they evolved. The
great breakthrough was the [1993]
Oslo Accords, when Israel and the
Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) recognized and acknowledged
each other’
s right to exist. Then-Israeli
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO
Chairman Yasser Arafat signed this
agreement with President Bill Clinton
as their witness. This was a huge deal
because before this agreement, the PLO
was considered a terror organization.
When Rabin issued Oslo 2, which
included a map of all the territories
that would be included in the future
Palestinian state, it was turned over to
the Palestinians. And that is when he was
assassinated because the whole idea that
he was conceding any territory was too
much for the [Israeli] extremists and they
killed him.
In 2000, the last effort of this peace
plan was called the Taba Summit, and it
took place in Taba, Egypt, where Israelis
and Palestinians negotiated without
any role from the Americans. The two
leaders in charge were Arafat of the PLO
and former Israeli Prime Minister and
Defense Minister Ehud Barak. From
these meetings, the negotiators were
very creative and came up with a draft
of principles, but then Ariel Sharon was
elected as Israeli prime minister, and all
plans were then called off. Since then, it
has all gone downhill.
You had a chance to look over the new
plan. What are some of the biggest take-
aways from it?
Stockton: I would say that this
so-called “peace plan” is not truly a peace
plan, but rather a bunch of Bibi talking
points. As I look at what they have writ-
ten down here, these are just the argu-
ments of the Likud mindset. This whole
continued on page 24
Q&A
Trump’s Peace Plan
World
Local professor shares his view on what’
s inside.
CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER
Ron Stockton
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and President Donald Trump
at the unveiling of the peace plan,
Jan. 28, 2020
COURTESY OF RON STOCKTON
GABE FRIEDMAN (JTA)
news analysis