The details of US President Donald Trump's "deal of the century," whose goal is to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict, have begun to emerge.
The deal was two years in the making, with great expectations. After all, Trump is an unconventional president and many expected that he would take an unprecedented approach to the issue. The insanity of repeating the same actions and expecting different results would end.
But as Jonathan S. Tobin wrote last week, "The economic vision for the Palestinians isn't new and won't work. The intended beneficiaries have already rejected numerous opportunities to get the state they claim they want."
Real peace requires real changes, in both words and deeds, in Palestinian society. But, inexplicably, the architects of the Trump plan, senior adviser Jared Kushner, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, and Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt, are offering economic aid before the Palestinian society changes.
Palestinian society lacks the liberty that can inspire people to act with civility. And those denying Palestinians this liberty are their own egocentric leaders.
Peace requires that every Palestinian faction recognize Israel's right to exist and act on this recognition. This isn't because Israel needs their recognition – it doesn't – but because they want Israel to recognize their own state.
Palestinian schools must rid themselves of a curriculum that includes genocidal anti-Semitism. Teaching children lies about Israel and incitement against Jews and encouraging them to become martyrs is hardly a path to peaceful coexistence.
All Palestinian violence and incitement must end, fully and permanently, whether it is inspired by the Palestinian Authority, the PLO, or Hamas, and whether it comes from the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.
Incentivizing terrorists must end. Unfortunately, as Tobin states, "the Palestinian Authority continues to subsidize terror in the form of salaries for imprisoned terrorists, and pensions for their families and survivors because to do otherwise would be to admit their defeat in a war that they haven't the courage or the good sense to give up on."
Only after it has been verified that these steps have been accomplished and entrenched in Palestinian society will the Palestinians be entitled to US funding in order to get their economy going.
As part of the deal, a train has been proposed between Gaza and the West Bank. Who will be the conductor on that train? Who will ensure that its "passengers" don't include rockets and machine guns?
In truth, no amount of money can erase the Palestinians' desire to destroy Israel. And, after so many decades of living on the dole, why would we think Palestinians would use the proposed aid to create a healthy economy?
Who can guarantee that their kleptocracy will end? Who will monitor their corrupt leaders to ensure that they don't simply steal the billions of dollars in foreign assistance, leaving their people poor and subjugated?
The best approach would be to allocate the promised $50 billion in aid money to revolutionize and monitor the PA education system. After two or three generations of Palestinians raised on ecumenicism and a real desire to live in peace and harmony with Jews, side by side with Israel, peace may actually emerge.
But today, the Palestinians only want a state if it requires no negotiations and no concessions, allowing them to bring Gaza to Jerusalem.
If Trump's plan fails – and unfortunately, it will – the blame must fall on the Palestinians themselves, not on the lofty ideas behind past peace efforts and behind the "deal of the century," itself.
