Roadblocks in Gaza plan

When a bad man does a good thing, we should honour him for it even if his motives are selfish.

- Gwynne Dyer

Donald Trump is only trying to “bring peace to the Middle East” because he wants the Nobel Peace Prize, they say. He blusters and threatens and lies. He boasts about the seven wars he claims to have settled/ended/ avoided, but he cannot even tell the difference between Armenia (which did recently have a war) and Albania (which didn’t).

All true, but so what? Trump’s motives don’t matter and neither does his geopolitical ignorance. As US president, he is the only person with the power to force the Hamas group in Gaza and the Israeli government to discuss making peace. After long hesitation, he has finally deployed that power.

That certainly does not guarantee success. Neither the Hamas extremists who rule the Gaza Strip, nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu actually want peace on the terms implicit in Trump’s draft 20-point peace plan.