“Ethnic cleansing, which is what this would be, is a serious war crime,” said politics professor Stephen Zunes.
Trump’s move was in contrast to Biden, who, despite facing criticism for his support of Israel, believed in a rules-based international legal order, said the director of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco.
“Trump’s dismissal of these long-standing international legal principles is rather disturbing, particularly that he is now the president of the most powerful country in the world,” Zunes told CNA’s Asia Now.
He said the only viable, long term solution will be equality between Palestinians and Israelis, either in a two-state solution or a single binational state with guaranteed rights for both groups.
“There can never be a real solution that does not recognise this. Ultimately, Israeli security and Palestinian rights are not mutually exclusive – they’re mutually dependent upon the other, so it’s critical that we get to the roots of it,” he said.
As Trump settles into his second term, analysts cautioned the newly-inaugurated president remains unpredictable – at least compared to previous administrations – and it will become clearer in the months ahead the impact of his agenda.
