Weekly Commentary: Kushner's All or Nothing Mapping Geared To Squeeze Israel
Dr. Aaron Lerner 6 February, 2020

Jared Kushner clearly states at every opportunity that his overarching goal
is to halt Israeli settlement expansion.

The last minute "joint map committee" surprise is geared to force the Jewish
State into agreeing to effectively yield claim to many areas in Judea and
Samaria which would otherwise ultimately house Jewish communities.

The plan is as simple as it is brutal:

Step #1. Announcement of the Trump plan sucked out the oxygen from the
independent Israeli annexation initiatives.

Step #2. Kushner's insistence that only one round of annexation can take
place, and that after Israel signs off on a map dictated by America in a
"joint map committee", turns annexation from a move to advance Israeli
interests to a device to force Israel to choose between running down the
clock on the window of opportunity and signing a map explicitly drawn with
the purpose of "halting settlement expansion."

Following Kushner's stated goal, the American "all or nothing" map can be
expected to include:

#1. The borders of Israeli communities set in accordance with the current
footprint of completed buildings as observed in aerial photographs rather
than in accordance with municipal lines.

#2. Massive increase in the footprint of Jericho and other Palestinian
communities beyond their current areas to occupy empty available land.

#3. Forfeiture of E1 and similar locations for Palestinian "contiguity."

Map notations may also be used as device to commit the Jewish State to
accept profoundly unworkable transportation corridors serving "isolated"
Jewish communities, thus insuring their ultimate demise.

While the plan itself will mostly likely die, the map endorsed by Israel
will serve to not only "halt settlement expansion" but also as a starting
point for Israeli concessions in any future arrangement.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does have an alternative.

He can exploit the realpolitik of the moment: Candidate Trump cannot afford
to cross his Evangelical base. Israeli unilateral action today will most
certainly anger Jerald Kushner and possibly even President Trump himself.
But Mr. Trump simply cannot afford to punish the Jewish State before the
elections.

Sure. They will be angry. But Washington will still veto any UNSC
resolution against Israel.

And the explanation that the move was required for Netanyahu's political
survival will most certainly ultimately be accepted with understanding.
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