Afrasianet - By: Major General Mohamed Ibrahim - I am forced, time after time, to reopen the "Deal of the Century", an expression that has received unprecedented media attention at the regional and international levels, although this deal has not yet been officially released. However, observers and specialists in the Israeli-Palestinian issue competed to talk about it, and considered it most of them a suspicious or incomplete deal. Then it came to the parties concerned to declare their rejection. In this article, I will attempt to clarify and explain the limited and limited information that is available in order to develop a vision of the framework and principles of the deal. This will allow us to formulate some proposals on how to deal with it after it is put forward.
Concept of the transaction
First, we must define what the "deal of the century" means, and what is its concept? In my opinion, the deal is a vision or a US peace plan to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict with a focus on resolving the Palestinian issue, and in order to achieve stability and support regional security in the Middle East, and to confront the tensions, especially Iran and terrorism. To stabilize the political situation of Israel so as to merge naturally in the Arab and regional system.
The United States turned to this deal after the current US administration took a few weeks to form a special White House working group led by Jason Greenblatt and Jared Kouchner, The region for more than two years until it finally came to that political vision to be put forward.
The timing of the deal
Washington was due to launch the deal at the beginning of 2019; however, the date of the Israeli elections was a key factor in postponing it. Thus, the deal will be presented shortly after the formation of the new Israeli government, especially since all the discussions conducted by the American staff was with the Israeli Prime Minister, "Netanyahu," and explain one of the main reasons for the unlimited American support for the re-election of "Netanyahu "As one of the main interlocutors.
The postponement may also have been linked to the United States' cautiousness in introducing some amendments to the deal before it was officially launched in the light of the positions announced by Arab leaders reaffirming their vision of a settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict and of sticking to the Arab peace initiative, And between the content of the deal.
The principles governing the deal
In light of the various statements made by the American staff on more than one occasion, it is possible to estimate that there is a set of key principles on which the deal was based. In my opinion, six principles can be envisaged as follows:
Principle 1: All the old solutions did not succeed in ending the conflict, and therefore new non-conventional solutions that could be more effective than before had to be contemplated, which would require mutual concessions that the parties to the conflict might not accept, but which remained necessary to resolve.
Principle 2: The current situation in the occupied Arab territories, or, more accurately, the reality there, will be one of the most important foundations of the deal, so that changes on the ground will not be ignored, and will be strongly present in the content of the deal and its details.
The third principle is that Israeli security is the main factor on which the deal is based, since ensuring Israel's security is a US commitment that will not accept any substantive compromise, either by Israel or the United States.
Principle 4: Economic development in the West Bank and Gaza will receive the most attention in the deal, which means that the idea of economic peace will be one of the main keys to the deal compared to the political and political settlement, which can come at a later stage or relatively late after the clarity of economic results on Earth.
Principle 5: The principle of a two-state solution is not the holy principle of resolving the Palestinian issue, but there may be an approach to this principle, in the sense of accepting the establishment of a Palestinian state, but not in the form envisaged by Arabs and Palestinians.
Principle 6: Some issues called final status issues, such as Jerusalem and refugees, can not be resolved according to the Arab vision; Jerusalem in its present form has become the capital of Israel and indivisible. The problem of refugees can also be solved through the implementation of other measures such as resettlement policy, ie the resettlement of Palestinian refugees in the countries in which they reside. The United States could provide material support for such resettlement.
In light of the above, we can say that we are in front of an American vision of the solution, jumping away from the decisions of international legitimacy, and the Arab vision of the Arab peace initiative, a vision that drops the principle of an independent, sovereign and continuous state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The two most important final status issues: Jerusalem and refugees. It also gives the issue of Israel's security a priority over other considerations. Therefore, the Palestinians have nothing left to do except what we might call the "semi-state" or "statehood" that is devoid of its main components, as well as the economic aspect.
Proposed approach to dealing with the transaction
There is no doubt that the main challenge before us is: How can Arabs and Palestinians deal with the deal after it is officially launched? In this regard I would like to emphasize two main considerations:
The first consideration is that it is unreasonable and unacceptable for Palestinians or Arabs to declare their rejection of the deal before they are officially informed of it. Pre-rejection will be a negative point for all Arab states.