Eugene Kontorovich on the Trump Peace Plan

The Tikvah Podcast

Tikvah

Judaism, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, News

4.6 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2020

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Since the administration of President Jimmy Carter, nearly every American president has sought to attain the holy grail of diplomacy: a solution to the conflict between Israel and her Arab neighbors. In some ways, the Trump Administration’s new peace initiative, “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People,” is merely another proposal for an American-brokered arrangement, the next plan in a line of many.

But its vision is based on political premises that reveal a fundamentally different understanding of American interests in the region. From its approach to Israeli settlements and the “land for peace” paradigm to the nature of its ambitions and its conception of America’s role, this new plan, whether it proves successful or not, could come to be seen as the beginning of new era in Israeli security and regional order.

In this podcast, Professor Eugene Kontorovich, who participated in the crafting of the Trump Administration’s plan, joins Jonathan Silver to explain the details of the “Peace to Prosperity” vision and why it represents a step forward for U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East.

Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble as well as "Ulterior" by Swan Production.

This podcast was recorded in front of a live audience of Tikvah Society members at the Tikvah Center in New York City. If you want to learn more about joining the Tikvah Society, click here.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Since the administration of President Carter, American presidents have all pursued the holy grail of international diplomacy, a solution to the conflict between Israel and her Arab neighbors.
0:20.1	On January 28th of this year, just over a month ago,
0:23.2	the Trump administration issued a 180-page document called Peace to Prosperity, a vision to
0:29.7	improve the lives of the Palestinian and Israeli people. In some ways, the Trump administration's
0:35.3	initiative is another proposal for an American
0:38.1	brokered arrangement, the next plan in a line of many. But it is based on political premises
0:43.8	that reveal a fundamentally different understanding of America's interests in the Middle East.
0:49.2	And in time, it could come to be seen as the beginning of a new era in Israeli security and regional order.
0:56.6	Welcome to the Tikva podcast. I'm your host, Jonathan Silver. Today we discuss the Trump
1:01.7	administration's approach to settlements, the Jordan Valley, the Land for Peace paradigm,
1:07.0	the path set forth for Palestinians seeking to live in freedom and sovereignty, and what the
1:12.2	reception of the Trump administration's plan reveals about the temper of Israel's politics.
1:18.1	Our guide to the Trump administration's thinking is Professor Eugene Kantorovich of George Mason
1:23.4	University's Antonin Scalia Law School, and the director of its new very important center for
1:29.0	international law in the Middle East. He is also a scholar at the Kohelet Policy Forum in Jerusalem.
1:35.3	If you enjoy this conversation, you can subscribe to the Tikva podcast on iTunes, Stitcher,
1:40.1	Google Play, and Spotify. I hope you leave us a five-star review to help us grow this community of ideas.
1:46.5	I welcome your feedback on this or any of our other podcast episodes at podcast at ticfunds.org.
1:53.0	And of course, if you want to learn more about our work at Tikva, you can visit our website,
1:57.8	tikfafunds.org, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
2:01.9	One last thing, this conversation was recorded live before members of the Tickfah Society
2:07.0	in New York City. If you'd like information about joining the Tickfah Society, write to us
	...

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