Middle East | Khashoggi’s killing threatens Trump dreams for region peace

Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2011

In recent months, the Trump administration has repeatedly put off the release of its long-awaited Mideast peace plan. Now, the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agents may put the plan into a deep freeze.

Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was meant to be the linchpin of the plan, providing key diplomatic cover to both Israelis and Palestinians. But with the Saudi prince’s credibility facing serious questions following Khashoggi’s death, President Donald Trump may soon have to rethink his Mideast strategy.

“It definitely complicates their plans to release their proposal, if indeed they have one,” said Dan Shapiro, who served as President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Israel.

Trump took office promising a new approach to peace making between Israel and the Palestinians.

Criticizing decades of failure by his predecessors, he named a Mideast team headed by his son-
in-law and adviser Jared Kushner. The team has deep ties to Israel and the West Bank settler movement.

The Trump administration notably refused to endorse the establishment of a Palestinian state, distancing itself from the two-state solution favored by the international community for more than two decades.

Instead, Kushner’s team turned to the Saudis, hoping that the kingdom’s deep pockets and prestige in the Arab world could somehow help bring the Israelis and Palestinians together.

Kushner struck up a special relationship with the crown prince, portraying him as a swashbuckling force, a leader who could help modernize a troubled region. Last year, Kushner paid a secret visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss his strategy for Israel and the Palestinians.

But long before the current crisis over Khashoggi’s death, the peace plan ran into in trouble.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was invited to Saudi Arabia twice last year to talk to Prince Mohammed about the emerging American proposal.

Palestinian officials say that in briefings with the Saudis, Abbas raised objections after concluding the plan would fall far short of his goal of establishing an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

Aides say Abbas believes the Americans want to keep him quiet by attracting large sums of money from Gulf Arab investors to develop the Palestinian economy. With the Palestinian front quiet, the United States could then proceed with the broader aim of creating an Israeli-Saudi alliance to serve as a regional counterweight to Iran.

In the meantime, his relations with the Americans have deteriorated. Abbas severed ties with the White House after the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last December and then moved its embassy to the holy city. Relations worsened as the U.S. cut hundreds of millions of dollars of direct and indirect aid to the Palestinians.

Amid this backdrop, Abbas has already said he will not accept the White House initiative, arguing that Trump is unfairly biased in favor of Israel.

At the same time, Prince Mohammed’s credibility has taken a beating with a series of questionable decisions in recent months. He has pushed for an unsuccessful blockade of Qatar, led a bloody and unpopular war in neighboring Yemen and abruptly cut off ties with Canada after its foreign minister criticized Saudi Arabia. AP