Steve Witkoff, the new special envoy to the Middle East on behalf of President Donald Trump, recently secured a Gaza ceasefire where Secretary of State Antony Blinken had proved insufficient to the task.
The Biden administration failed because it backed the Gaza genocide more than it was willing to put sufficient pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the onslaught. Witkoff was reportedly more insistent.
For the moment, the Gaza ceasefire is largely holding, but now comes the feared quid pro quo of a quiet Trump-Netanyahu agreement carving up or seizing the West Bank. Certainly, Trump’s next expected ambassador to Israel – Mike Huckabee – will offer little to no caution as he talks up Israel in what he terms “Judea and Samaria.”
At best, Trump and Huckabee will inadvertently hasten a one-state solution with equal rights for all. At worst, Israeli apartheid will become even more entrenched for years to come.
Netanyahu and the settlers are poised to run roughshod through the West Bank. Indeed, settlers have already torched parts of Palestinian villages. …more
