By inviting Gantz for a meeting Trump hopes to get support for his deal

The US president has broken with tradition as he will meet with both Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

By OMRI NAHMIAS
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. December 21, 2019 (photo credit: MARCO BELLO/REUTERS)
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. December 21, 2019
(photo credit: MARCO BELLO/REUTERS)
WASHINGTON – Washington is gearing up for a busy diplomatic week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz are both expected to arrive on Monday in the US capital for their respective separate meetings with US President Donald Trump.
The White House agreed to schedule a separate meeting between Gantz and Trump after the Blue and White leader considered canceling his visit. This is an unusual move by the White House since the president does not often meet with candidates.
The peace team of Jared Kushner, Avi Berkowitz, David Friedman and Jason Greenblatt, who left the administration last November, has been working on the plan for nearly three years. They are all in agreement that waiting until after Israel’s third round of elections might be too late when Trump is busy with his reelection campaign.
They decided to release the plan now, knowing its chances of success – given the expected Palestinian refusal to discuss it – and the fact that Israel’s elections are yet again just around the corner. The team, therefore, decided to try and achieve an Israeli consensus around the administration’s Middle East vision, with possible support from Arab countries as well.
After two rounds of elections with either side failing to achieve 61 seats, they took into account that the same scenario could repeat itself after the election set for March 2. According to reports in Israeli media, the plan would include support for applying Israeli sovereignty on settlements and a non-militarized Palestinian state under a series of conditions and restrictions.
Given that Knesset members on the Left oppose the idea of annexing settlements while Knesset members on the right oppose the idea of a Palestinian state, they need to have the support of the two largest parties in Israel. Otherwise, the plan would be doomed to fail.
While it is unclear what the plan includes, the peace team decided to schedule a different meeting for Gantz to avoid appearing as if the plan is merely a “gift” for Netanyahu. “The president is a deal maker,” a source familiar with the peace team’s discussions told the Post. “If a meeting [with Gantz] is required to make sure that the majority of Israelis support the plan, he has no problem to have a meeting. Is it important for him to know that most Israelis are on board.”
Beyond the challenge to get a consensus from the Israeli side, the peace team would need to prove that the plan has a chance of success by bringing Arab leaders to the table, showing that even if the Palestinians do not want to take part in the discussion, perhaps other Arab countries will.
Channel 12 reported on Thursday that the foreign minister of Bahrain and possibly other Arab leaders would be at the White House on Tuesday as well, while the president will officially reveal his vision of the Middle East.
The questions remaining are whether he will attend and will he be the sole Arab leader there? And last but certainly not least, whether the administration is trying to push for a unity government? This remains to be seen.