Trump Administration’s Foreign Policy towards the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict 2016-2021

Abstract

This thesis is titled Trump Administration’s Foreign Policy towards the Palestinian Israeli Conflict 2016-2021. It carries three interrelated arguments, of which perhaps the most important is Trump’s biased foreign policy towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as had been the case with all the previous policies of American presidents. However, the decisions taken by Trump in favor of Israel, especially about the issues of the final resolution, such as the issue of Jerusalem, refugees, and settlements, have made the Palestinian leadership change their perception toward the United States of America from being an international role player in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an unfair party that would not provide anything for the Palestinian cause in light of its absolute support for Israel. Here the term Palestinian leadership refers to the senior officials of the Palestinian Authority as well as the top decision makers of Palestinian political parties. Thus, the Palestinian leaders have indeed begun to seek other solutions away from the hegemony of the United States throughout the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The main idea of the argument, in a nutshell, is that all American presidents are biased towards Israel. Still, Trump differed from them by interfering in issues that affected the sentiments of Palestinians, such as the matter of Jerusalem which created a new mentality and thought on the part of Palestinian leaders to modify the nature of relations with the United States of America. Second, I argue although the American Zionist lobby had a role in pressuring American presidents to support Israel, the situation under Trump’s administration was somewhat different. This is because many members of the Trump administration adopted the positions of the Israeli right, and one of them, his advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, even practiced Judaism, as a Jew imbued with the biblical ideology. Thus, a large part of the Trump administration had to support and adopt the right-wing Zionist idea. Not only the administration but also Trump himself, who proudly showed his affiliation to Christian Zionism which ideologically supports Israel in an absolute manner, therefore, became part of the Zionist lobby by providing support to Israel more than any other former president. Third, I argue that what helped President Trump to interfere in the matters of the final solution of the Palestinian issue was the Palestinian weakness and division in that situation when vii for the first time Palestinian people were going through such strong division and dispersion. This represents an important argument in this study presents a clear vision of the Palestinian leaders and explains the reasons for the Palestinian division which resulted in the weakening of their position and leadership. Moreover, this division opened up an opportunity for President Trump and his Jewish administration to make fateful decisions that affected the sensitive issues of the Palestinian people. As a result, the Palestinian division reflected badly on the Arab and international levels. Trump administration sought to exploit this Palestinian division in a way that has been preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state in line with the vision of the Israeli right. The validity of these three arguments is tested in this thesis by analyzing many research papers and reviewing books, articles, and pamphlets on American foreign policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I also conducted key informant interviews with a group of Palestinian leaders, and Palestinian and non-Palestinian academics both within and outside Palestine. A focus group discussion helped me develop a nuanced understanding of the subject. Several conclusions derive from this study that will benefit Palestinian leaders, scholars, and academics interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. First, Trump's policy did not simply reflect a bias toward Israel, as seen with previous U.S. presidents; rather, it represented an exaggeration, extremism, and full acknowledgment of the framework established by the ruling Zionist right. It was evident that strengthening and supporting Israel in all aspects is a key consensus in American policy. It remains a fact that the American policy towards the Palestinian issue was and still is a biased one in favor of Israel on all political, economic, military, and social aspects that increased during the era of Trump and took a high curve of adopting extremist right Jewish wing positions. Trump worked to expand the electoral base, please the Jews, and adopted the decisions of the Israeli extreme right with complete bias. Thus, Trump ensured that the Zionist lobby would support him in the elections to ensure his victory and progress over his competitors. Trump was keen to appear faithful and fulfill his promises to Israel. There are strong relations among the American decision-makers, Zionism, and Zionist lobbies. It is clear that the Zionist lobby has played a traditional role in directing American policy to the interests of Israel at the expense of the Palestinians, where it constantly seeks to support American presidents, regardless of whether viii the president is from the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. In addition, the Arab dispersion and the rush towards normalization played a role in strengthening Trump’s conviction to proceed in favor of issuing decisions to Israel. They thus collapsed any impenetrable dam against the implementation of Trump’s decisions regarding the American support for Israel, which denies any beneficial or human rights field for the Arabs and Palestinians. The Arab dispersion and the move toward normalization contributed to strengthening Trump's belief in the necessity of issuing decisions in favor of Israel. This development effectively dismantled any significant barriers to the implementation of Trump's policies regarding American support for Israel. As a result, these decisions undermine any potential benefits or recognition of human rights for Arabs and Palestinians. In addition, the Palestinian division among major parties has badly reflected and affected the Arab world and the globe. The Trump administration sought to utilize the Palestinian division in a way that practically prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state in light of two divided authorities, one in the West Bank and the other in Gaza. A new intellectual state of mind among the Palestinian leaders was represented by the need to search for other political expertise away from the persistent American bias because Trump’s policies affected, in one way or another, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The most important effects of these decisions are that they have caused severe damage to the Palestinian cause in that they blatantly supported the Zionist settlement in Jerusalem and the West Bank, moved the United States embassy to Jerusalem, encouraged some other countries to do so, neglected the refugee issue and sought to stop the American support for UNRWA- meaning that it seeks to eliminate the right of return for the refugees and has cut off aids of the Palestinians. Moreover, those aids were linked to various Palestinian compromises, thus encouraging Israeli extremism and bias. In light of the above discussions, I consider it necessary neither to bet on Israel in the peace process nor to bet on the American policy, whether it is democratic or republican, because, in short, they maintain the security of Israel, as Israel is considered to be a strategic US ally. Additionally, the Arab and Islamic stance on defending the cause must be unified. This coincides with the unity of the Palestinian people, ending the division, unifying the method of national struggle, and agreeing on a mechanism for resistance. It is also important for the Palestinians to unite before making any crucial decision on when to use diplomacy or military force in dealing with the Israeli aggression. This would strengthen and reinforce the Palestinian stance at all ix levels, in addition to activating the role of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in leading and perpetuating the peaceful popular uprising against the Israeli colonization of Palestinian territories. It would also facilitate the continuation of the diplomatic offense led by the PLO. An important strategy for the Palestinians to counter the biases in US policy toward the Palestinian Israeli conflict is to galvanize international support for Palestinian rights in international forums, including in the International Criminal Court. Such support is crucial for exposing Israeli military aggression and human rights violations through strong print, electronic and social media and continuing to isolate “Israel” diplomatically. Finally, general elections must be held. This would cover legislative, national council, and presidential elections in which the Palestinian people of all classes and categories participate in a comprehensive and holistic electoral process in which the Palestinian people choose representatives. Democratically elected officials can achieve real national interests and participate in the formulation of policies and strategies that serve the interest and the basic cause of Palestine, which is independence and the establishment of the state.