At the Edge of Peace

"The plan precluded the future annexation of the West Bank, which so alarmed Netanyahu's allies in Israel that they dispatched Jewish settler leaders to the U.S. to talk him out of signing. Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, issued three demands: that the Palestinian Authority play no role in the future governance of Gaza; that Hamas completely disarm; and that there be no mention of a future Palestinian state. The proposal overlooked all three."

"Netanyahu, in his press conference with Trump, did not seem like his usual triumphalist self. Israel will retain security responsibility, including a security perimeter "for the foreseeable future," he claimed-but that language did not appear anywhere in the proposal. His depiction of the plan differed so strongly from Trump's that one wondered whether they were talking about the same document."

"On September 9th, Israel launched a strike on a meeting of Hamas officials in Doha. The missiles missed their targets, but left Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, "furious," the Times reported. Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, whose private-equity firm had received hundreds of millions of dollars in investment from Qatar, and who had been working with Blair on a postwar plan for Gaza, was similarly "angry and embarrassed.""

The U.S. plan precluded future annexation of the West Bank, prompting Israeli settler leaders to lobby against Netanyahu and ignoring demands from Bezalel Smotrich that the Palestinian Authority have no Gaza role, that Hamas disarm, and that no future Palestinian state be mentioned. Netanyahu publicly claimed Israel would retain security responsibility and a security perimeter "for the foreseeable future," despite that language not appearing in the proposal. A September strike on Hamas officials in Doha missed, angered U.S. envoys and Jared Kushner, and united Arab and Muslim leaders in Doha to craft demands. The strike’s diplomatic fallout contributed to momentum for a ceasefire.

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