Those who suggest a dead-on-arrival U.S. peace plan will be simply thrown into the dustbin of history and will have no long-term consequences are dangerously wrong. A defective plan could have catastrophic consequence.

An impending U.S. diplomatic initiative to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict used to make big headlines. Now, the Trump administration says its on the verge of issuing an "ultimate deal" plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - and hardly anyone seems to care.

Should we care? Absolutely. Not because the plan has a serious chance to succeed. It doesn’t. But because of the potentially catastrophic repercussions that a severely flawed plan would have.  

What we know so far about this administration’s approach to the Israeli-Palestinian question does not bode well for an effective peace plan.

Professor Shibley Telhami Briefing Call, Thursday, July 19, 2 pm (Eastern)

Professor Shibley Telhami, one of America's leading experts on the Middle East, comments on the current state of American-Palestinian relations, on Donald Trump's Israeli-Palestinian policy, on Trump's prospective "peace plan," and on the role of Arab governments in the current dynamics between the US, Israel and the Palestinians.

The 'Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People,' passed by 62-55, with two abstentions

Land Allocation in the West Bank – For Israelis Only

A New Settlement Watch Report

Following a request under the Freedom of Information Act submitted by Peace Now and the Movement for Freedom of Information (and after refusing to give the information and a two-and-a-half year delay), the Civil Administration's response was received:

Professor Shibley Telhami Briefing Call, Thursday, July 19, 2 pm (Eastern)

Professor Shibley Telhami, one of America's leading experts on the Middle East, will comment on the current state of American-Palestinian relations, on Donald Trump's Israeli-Palestinian policy, on Trump's prospective "peace plan," and on the role of Arab governments in the current dynamics between the US, Israel and the Palestinians.

Listen here

The New York Times today published an article based on data collected by Israel's Peace Now movement, quoting Hagit Ofran of Peace Now's Settlement Watch project. Following is the article:

In West Bank, 99.7% of Public Land Grants by Israel Go to Settlers In West Bank, 99.7% of Public Land Grants by Israel Go to Settlers

By Isabel Kershner
July 17, 2018

JERUSALEM — Over five decades in control of the West Bank, Israel has marked out hundreds of thousands of acres as public land, and it has allocated almost half of them for use.

But only 400 of those acres — 0.24 percent of the total allocated so far — have been earmarked for the use of Palestinians, according to official data obtained recently by an anti-settlement group after a freedom of information request. Palestinians make up about 88 percent of the West Bank’s population.

Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.