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nother piece of conventional wisdom is that Trump has waited far too long to release his “deal of the century.” November 2020 is 18 months away and after his plan makes its initial splash, he will get too bogged down in his reelection campaign to push for Middle East peace.

Others contend that Trump stands little chance of being reelected and that any one of the zany Democratic progressives who replaces him will burn the plan in a barrel of Iranian oil shortly after taking the oath of office.

These, too, are risky if not foolhardy assumptions.

Number one, Trump does not have to carry the banner for his plan — Kushner, Greenblatt, and Friedman can do the heavy lifting. They have invested more than two years of work in this plan and they’re not going to drop it like a lead weight at the first signs of resistance.

Number two, the raucous field of Democratic presidential candidates, amplified by their media chamber chorus, are making a lot of noise, but to win in 2020, the Democrats will have to win back blue-collar states that Trump flipped to the GOP in 2016 — states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. With the economy humming along and unemployment at record lows, there is little reason for these voters to change their allegiances midstream.

Nationally, it’s too early to read much into the polls, but the only Democrat ahead of Trump is Joe Biden. His lead is much smaller than what Hillary Clinton held over Trump, and we all remember what happened to Hillary.

This is why it is so important that Israel play the Trump peace plan correctly. The “deal of the century” is more likely to have a long shelf life than to rot on the vine. In an era where the Middle East is ever more volatile and dangerous, Israel will be advised to look before they leap and adopt a policy of Making Israel Reciprocal Again.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 760)