While the response to the rollout of the U.S. peace plan has been muted in Gaza and the West Bank, many Arab Israelis have protested against, or otherwise expressed dissatisfaction with, one particular provision which would shift an area known as “the Triangle” to Palestinian control. With a total population of about 250,000, the Triangle contains several Arab villages that have been under Israeli control since the 1949 armistice. According to the White House proposal, the Triangle would be exchanged for Jewish-populated territory in the West Bank. But, writes Khaled Abu Toameh, the residents of the Triangle would prefer to live in Israel:

In his first interview after leaving office, the former head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, admitted that he had erred in believing that Israel could come to some sort of accord with Hamas. In his own words: