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