How Mideast ‘Deal of the Century’ Plays in Two Elections
There are benefits and risks to Israel’s Netanyahu in the plan to create a Palestinian state. For Trump, it’s all upside.
Hand in hand, into the elections.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BlooombergWith Israeli elections only weeks away, it is anyone’s guess how U.S. President Donald Trump’s just revealed Middle East peace plan might affect the outcome. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is betting that his close association with Trump will remind Israelis that it is he who is the experienced statesman whose efforts helped lead to this “deal of the century.”
But that relationship could also boomerang against Netanyahu. Some Israelis see the timing of the plan’s release Tuesday as blatant interference in Israel’s democratic process; they note that just as Trump seems entirely unfazed by Russia’s role in his 2016 election, he sees nothing wrong with injecting himself into Israel’s vote.