Peace to Prosperity, 2.0: Israeli-Palestinian Relations Post-Elections
Sometime this winter, after the dust has settled from the American and Israeli elections, the Trump Administration will likely try to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. The latest Policy Brief from the Center for the National Interest (CFTNI), “Peace to Prosperity, 2.0: Israeli-Palestinian Relations Post-Elections,” explores the conditions that might make peace talks possible. CFTNI Senior Fellow Joshua Yaphe and Mohammed Baharoon, Director General of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center (B’huth), co-authored the report.
Together, they conclude that the Trump Administration will likely seek to revitalize the Board of Peace and shift attention away from the intractable situation of disarming Hamas in Gaza. Instead, the focus will be on a reconstruction and investment project for the West Bank that resembles the Peace to Prosperity initiative of 2018–20. As Dr. Yaphe and Mr. Baharoon note, however, the real challenge will be convincing Arab and Muslim donors to recommit their funding, especially since they have been down this road before. The international donors will demand talks on Palestinian statehood, which the Israelis would prefer to avoid. The most workable solution may be a flexible arrangement that uses the Negev Forum as the venue for political issues, in conjunction with donor discussions convened by the Board of Peace.
About the Authors:
Mohammed Baharoon is the Director General of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center (B’huth), one of the premiere research centers in the Arab world. He previously wrote for Al Arabi and served as editor of Gulf Defense Magazine, and he has authored reports with a wide range of think tanks and consultancies. He is also a founding board member of the Bussola Institute in Brussels.
Joshua Yaphe is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest. He was previously a senior analyst for the Arabian Peninsula at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research and visiting faculty at the National Intelligence University. He has a PhD from American University and is the author of two books: Saudi Arabia and Iraq as Friends and Enemies: Borders, Tribes and a History Shared and Time and Narrative in Intelligence Analysis: A New Framework for the Production of Meaning.
The opinions and characterizations in this brief are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of any government.