While the world is busy fighting COVID-19, Israeli political parties have reached a government coalition agreement. Benjamin Netanyahu has succeeded in bringing annexation of occupied Palestinian territory to the table, setting a provisional timeframe—less than two months from now. He can thank the Trump plan for the confidence to push annexation so hard and so fast.

There have been many explanations why the Trump Mideast “vision” fell short of even the most basic requirements for a just and lasting peace. But few commentators have analyzed how the Trump plan dealt with the future of Palestinian Christians in particular—and how Israel’s annexation plans would affect Christian life in Palestine. Let us be clear: implementing the Trump plan would bring catastrophic consequences for the prospects of a political solution between Israelis and Palestinians, and particularly for the fulfillment of the rights of the Palestinian people, including Palestinian Christians.

The basic principles of the U.S. plan contradict the official position of the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem. In response to the plan’s publication, the representatives of Christian churches actually based here in the Holy Land, and not in D.C., affirmed “our strong devotion to achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on the international legitimacy and the relevant UN resolutions and in a manner that guarantees security, peace, freedom and dignity to all of the peoples of the region.”

Read the entire article at Haaretz.com.