MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
For more analysis of President Trump's plan, we've called someone who's worked on peace negotiations in the region also. That's David Makovsky of the Washington Institute. He also teaches Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University. He previously served in the State Department and the Obama administration as a senior adviser to the special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Good morning. Thank you so much for joining us.
DAVID MAKOVSKY: Delighted to be with you, Michel.
MARTIN: So the White House calls this a comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict. First of all, is it comprehensive, and does it differ from previous plans?
MAKOVSKY: Yes. No, I think as your correspondent said before, that this is the first time that we've both seen a very detailed plan for ending the war and also for a day after on different - on governance that would involve Palestinians, technocrats running the day-to-day life. There would be this international board. There'd be this multinational force called the ISF, International Stabilization Force, that would police Gaza. Many of them would be Arabs and Muslims, as we understand it. And it would probably bring the Palestinian Authority back towards the end, but not towards the beginning. And it was done sequenced in a way, I think, that would avoid a lot of Netanyahu's hot-button political tripwires and might allow his coalition to survive, although that remains unclear.
MARTIN: So, you know, the prime minister said he accepts the plan, but he was careful not to endorse its ultimate goal, which is the creation of a pathway to Palestinian statehood. So two questions here - will it be difficult for Netanyahu to sell this to the most rightward members of his government, and is that a way to, I don't know, kick this down - kick this can down the road?
MAKOVSKY: Yes. No, I think it's a very good question, and I think that it's clear that, you know, the hot-button issues for the hard right of Netanyahu's coalition are the role of the Palestinian Authority, Ramallah-based, that's in the West Bank, and would they have a role in Gaza. And the hard right are opposing this. And they also don't like the fact that there could even be negotiations on a two-state solution. The actual 20-point plan doesn't talk about the two-state solution. It talks about a dialogue for peace and coexistence. But, you know, in the Middle East, whenever it's all or nothing, it's nothing.
And so this would achieve a lot. It would bring an immediate end of the war that the world has wanted, a release of the hostages, surging aid to Gaza, you know, really begin rebuilding Gaza 'cause it's in ruins. It would close the door to Israeli annexation and displacement. It would place the emphasis on Palestinian reform. I think it would achieve a lot of objectives, but if someone wants to look at this plan that it would achieve all the objectives, I think they will then claim it falls short. And there are open questions here, which is the relationship between the disarmament and the IDF, the Israeli army withdrawals in phases from Gaza. So not everything is set.
MARTIN: So does Hamas have any option here? I mean, it's - Hamas has not accepted these terms yet. I'm sort of wondering if they try to make any adjustment, will this be seen as a rejection, and continue with - and Israel continues with its military campaign.
MAKOVSKY: That's the $64,000 question. I think the whole premise, the theory of the case, so to speak, and it might have come from the emir of Qatar, which has been is, if we bring the leadership of the Arab world and leadership of the Muslim world - this is the first time, and I've been a student of this conflict. And in 77 years, I don't remember anything like this, where the president of the United States is also sitting down with Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey, let - alongside Arabs. I think the Qatari said to the president, if we bring the Arab world and the Muslim world together in this eight-country meeting, you know, we - Hamas won't be able to say no to all of us. That's the theory of the case, and we'll have to see if that is indeed what happens.
MARTIN: That's David Makovsky of the Washington Institute. Mr. Makovsky, thank you so much.
MAKOVSKY: Delighted to be with you.
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