The most important long-term consequence of the Trump plan will be the burial of the two-state solution for good. With the prospect of a viable state off the table, Palestinian opinion, which was already veering toward a one-state solution, will overwhelmingly prefer such an outcome to the cadaver of a fictitious, noncontiguous state offered to them. This, in turn, is likely to pose an existential dilemma for Israeli Jews for they will be forced to starkly confront the question whether they would like to live in a binational democratic state or a polity based on apartheid where a dominant race will continue to subjugate another. The Trump-Kushner plan may, therefore, inadvertently become the harbinger of a single state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. This would be a bizarre way of fulfilling Balfour’s dream but it may turn out to be true thanks to Trump’s peace plan.

Mohammed Ayoob is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Michigan State University.

Image: Reuters.