Missing from Trump Gaza Plan: Rule of Law, Democracy
No wonder Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar are lining up to praise it. Plus, remembering Lally Weymouth; Trump says Harvard deal is near.
There’s something missing from the 20-point “President Donald J. Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict.” Two things, actually: democracy and rule of law.
I mention that with some reluctance. From the relative safety of America, I don’t want to second-guess or slow Israelis or for that matter Gazans who want the war to end without additional complications.
But recent Middle East history is littered with attempts to put peacemaking ahead of democracy and rule of law. None of those efforts—even the “Aaahb-raa-haahm Accords,” as Trump pointedly pronounced them this week—has fully lived up to their potential. Some of them have even been counterproductive.
The only reference to freedom in the Trump Gaza plan is that those who wish to leave Gaza “will be free to do so and free to return.” Democracy and rule of law are totally omitted.
What’s in the plan instead? There are two references to “experts.” Gaza, the plan says, will be governed by a “technocratic” committee including “international experts.” An economic development plan will also involve “convening a panel of experts.”
What would we do without experts?
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