Photo: US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announce new plan for the domination of Palestinian people

By Sherman Cox

On January 28, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump unveiled the “Peace to Prosperity” plan with the intent of further undermining Palestinian resistance and furthering Israeli encroachment on Palestinian territory in the West Bank.

This plan was announced just hours after the indictment was filed against Netanyahu for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, having been delayed since November while his allies in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) attempted to block the charges by granting him immunity.

The plan is the culmination of three years of deepening alliance between US imperialism and Israel, spearheaded by the Trump administration. In its contents, it grants virtually all demands made by Israel: dismissal of all pending complaints in the International Criminal Court, continued total control over Palestinian airspace and all international ports of entry, the recognition of the annexation of East Jerusalem, total demilitarization of Palestine, and, most importantly, the right to annex the Jordan Valley and most Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The plan also claims that Palestine will be granted a state four years after the plan’s ratification, provided that they meet all of the conditions imposed by both the US and Israel. These conditions require a system of government deemed ‘satisfactory’ to both Israel and the US, as well as the creation of international financial institutions that will allow further control and domination by finance capital, principally from US imperialism. The plan also claims that the creation of new Israeli settlements in the West Bank will freeze for this four-year period, although it makes no promises once that time has expired.

Meanwhile, no delegates from Palestine were invited to the announcement of the plan. Instead, both the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas have outright rejected the deal, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stating, “our rights are not for sale and are not for bargain,” and Hamas claiming the deal aspired to “liquidate the Palestinian national project.”

In stark contradiction to the supposed ‘end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,’ the Palestinian people launched a ‘Day of Rage’ the day after its announcement. Thousands of people marched through the streets in both the West Bank and Gaza, clashing with Israeli riot police and burning US and Israeli flags.

Despite the rejection of the plan by both Palestinian leaders and the Palestinian people, the State of Israel decided it would move along with the plan nonetheless. The Knesset will be voting on the most outrageous element of the plan on Sunday: the brazen annexation of the Jordan Valley and the Jordan River, the agricultural heart of Palestine. The US backed this move before it has been approved, with the US ambassador to Israel declaring “Israel does not have to wait at all” and “we will recognize it.”

This plan was drafted with the intent of satisfying both US and Israeli reaction at home and placing pressure on Palestinian parties to submit to the domination of US imperialism or face further aggression from Israeli settlers and Israel Defense Forces.

US imperialism is in the midst of consolidating its forces in the region as tensions remain high with Iran. The US and its puppet Israel have no interest in peace in Palestine nor the Middle East.