Arabs Out, Settlers In: How Trump’s Peace Plan Re-Engineers Israel

Redrawn borders would incorporate Arab towns into Palestine
Netanyahu reportedly had proposed the idea to the Americans

People rally in opposition to the U.S.-brokered proposal in Baqa al-Gharbiya, northern Israel on Feb. 1.Photographer: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

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By Gwen Ackerman and Amy Teibel

February 4, 2020 at 3:00 AM UTC

Updated on

February 4, 2020 at 1:45 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Arabs have long complained of being second-class citizens of Israel. If the Trump administration’s peace plan comes to life, some might not even be that.

Until recently, the idea of redrawing Israel’s borders to put hundreds of thousands of Arab citizens into a future state of Palestine existed only on the margins of Israeli political discourse. Now, the Trump proposals unveiled last week have taken it mainstream.