Israeli and Palestinian officials and news analysts feel cautiously optimistic about movement on the peace process in the region as the President Trump visits Israel this week.
News analyst Charlie Sennott joined BPR to explain how Trump’s business experience might help him cut a deal.
“It might just take a real estate guy to get the deal done between the Israelis and Palestinians,” he said. “Here’s a guy who you think would be the least capable in terms of the diplomatic muscle that would be needed to move it forward, but the Middle East always surprises.”
Sennott also said Trump’s strong support of Israel might shake the state into working harder toward a two-state solution.
“If you have very strong supporters of Israel guiding Bibi Netanyahu through the process, and his team through a process, maybe you build some trust and maybe everyone wakes up to the wisdom that we know where this needs to go,” he said. “A two-state solution is still widely perceived by almost every analyst as the best option and really the only option.”
Sennott explained that the “thorny issues” of the future of Jerusalem and the right of return for Palestinian refugees still need to be addressed, but “some movement forward” would still be positive.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been raging since the early 20th century over disputed land ownership in the Middle East. Most recently, the conflict escalated into a full blown war in 2014.
“It is about land. It is about a deal,” Sennott said. “It is about cutting the deal, and maybe the skill sets that President Trump has in that area can be put to good use in Israel-Palestine.”
Still, Sennott advised, “I would not hold your breath.”
He said he was encouraged by the fact that both Israeli and Palestinian officials felt optimistic, and the fact that the Middle East is a “crazy, unpredictable place” might gel well with the Trump administration’s style.
“The unpredictability of this administration may very strangely play sort of well in that part of the world, and I don’t think there’s a reason to not be hopeful,” he said. “The saddest part of being in Israel-Palestine is knowing how much the people want peace and how much failure of their leadership on both sides there has been in getting there.”
Charlie Sennott heads up The GroundTruth Project and is a WGBH news analyst. To hear his interview in its entirety, click on the audio player above.
