The White House Is Throwing Out the Old Palestinian Negotiations Playbook. Will That Bring Them to the Table?

USCPR Executive Director Yousef Munayyer comments on the inefficacy of the Trump administration’s latest tactics, including the recent cuts to UNRWA funding and the US Embassy moving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem:

When you want coercion to lead to a change of behavior, the actor has to see there’s something to lose. In the case of the Palestinians they’re already the party living under military occupation. It’s a people that has lost faith in the ability of the United States to deliver anything for them. The threat of cutting ties or reducing aid to different agencies while it has a real impact on real vulnerable people, as a political tool it doesn’t have much promise at all.