Donald Trump’s legacy, like the man himself, will be complicated, but the only certainty is that he has achieved what conventional wisdom could not say. His earth-shattering victory in the 2016 election is the prime example, and enforcing the development and approval of COVID-19 vaccines in just nine months is another example.
The Abraham Accords is a third astonishing achievement. When Trump took office, only two Arab nations, Egypt and Jordan, had treaties with Israel, a situation that has remained unchanged since 1994. There are now six regional nations with diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
“We’re making it look easy,” joked Jared Kushner, whose persistent and tireless diplomacy has helped secure the historic breakthroughs.
Of course, adding the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan to the list of those who recognized Israel’s right to exist and would open trade and tourist routes was not easy, which should give an economic boost to all participants. If it had been easy, the deals could have been signed at any time for the past 75 years.
Their signing with Trump (shown with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan) in the White House was a direct result of his policy. Chief among these was his stance on two fundamental issues: he would bring America closer to Israel and treat Iran as the dangerous pariah it is.
Both views represented a reversal of the policies of the Obama-Biden administration, which had treated Israel as a problem and Iran as an opportunity. The result was eight years of uninterrupted failure – a freeze on talks between Israel and the Palestinians and an emboldened Iran that aggressively spread chaos and terror.
Trump, on the other hand, “was untethered by what had happened and pushed people out of their comfort zone,” Kushner said in an interview. “We were transactional and he gave us a lot of room for maneuver.”
The “ comfort zone ” Trump faced encompassed decades of wisdom acquired in the United States Department of State and State Departments around the world. They insisted that progress would come after America pushed Israel to make peace with the Palestinians, which could eventually lead to a gradual warming of relations between Israel and the Arab states.
Conventional wisdom also held that Iran’s nuclear pact conceived by Obama would dampen the mad mullahs’ quest for dominance.
All those assumptions were wrong.
Trump, Kushner, David Friedman – America’s Ambassador to Israel – and others took a different approach. They believed that embracing Israel and isolating Iran by pulling out of the nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions would reshape the region. They were right.
The first test was the decision in 2017 to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which, instead of sparking widespread Arab riots, only sparked a minor grumble. Likewise, Israel’s recognition of the annexation of the Golan Heights did not cause any explosions.
This “merging with Israel,” as Kushner calls it, while taking on Iran served as a rallying cry for Arab nations tired of Palestinian rejection and fearful of Iran’s military intentions. They increasingly saw Israel, with its mighty army, as an ally against Iran.
“Anyone who flies between Israel and one of these countries becomes an ambassador for the Abraham Accords,” said Kushner. “It just goes to show that all the old thinking about what was possible was past its time.”
An American involved in the trial noted that events unimaginable just months ago, such as the opening of kosher restaurants in Dubai and Arabs asking visiting Israelis to take photos together, are happening so quickly and often that they are not even newsworthy. to be.
While this is not yet the lion lying with the lamb, there is the option to expand the alliance. Saudi Arabia has increased its unofficial ties with Israel, and the Crown Prince recently met with Netanyahu.
The Palestinians, who foolishly cursed Trump and refused to negotiate with Kushner, have said they will talk to Israel and Washington again since the election. As always, expect them to overplay their hands and decline any offer that could improve the lives of their citizens.
Kushner, who has endured many brickbats as Trump’s son-in-law and special adviser, is always the diplomat when asked what he thinks Biden will do.
“I hope people will take a moment to see that what we have done has been built on a logical basis,” he says, adding that he would like “the next administration to follow the path.”
That would be wise and smart to recognize the chords as a gift. Instead, Biden already said he hopes to rejoin the deal with Iran, which would undermine the new alliance and create nervousness about Iran’s aggression. He also plans to resume payments to Palestinians, which Trump stopped because the money was used to pay “salaries” to the families of terrorists who murdered Israelis.
Additionally, many of Biden’s fellow Democrats are openly hostile to Israel, especially under Netanyahu, and some, including Rep. Ilan Omar (D-Minn.), Routinely use anti-Semitic tropes.
All of this suggests that the potential for historical stability and regional economic growth that Trump has created is being jeopardized by Biden’s backward thinking. What a waste, what a tragic waste.
Hypocrisy of silence
The mayor, governor, city council and state legislature ride on the hobby horses of social justice and Black Lives Matter. Then why are they silent about the growing number of black New Yorkers being murdered?
Through December 20, the NYPD reports that 437 people were killed in 2020, up from 314 in the same period last year, an increase of 39 percent. That means an additional 123 casualties, and if past patterns persist, the vast majority of deaths, perhaps 95 percent, are black or Latino.
In total, more than 1,800 people were shot in the city, an increase of nearly 1,000 victims compared to last year. In recent years, nearly all of those shots were black and Latino, as were the gunmen, police reports say.
Where’s the outrage?
A Dem Hunter hunt? Yes correct
Save this under Fat Chance.
Reader Jeffrey Tew, a Miami attorney, backs special counsel for the Hunter Biden probe. He writes, “Democrats expect us to believe that an attorney general appointed by Joe Biden would sue son Hunter or brother Jim if the evidence justifies a charge. We have to believe that the new AG, which will be a lifelong Democrat, will be the first in US history to allow charges against a relative of the president who appointed him.
“Even a special counsel would have a hard time bringing charges if warranted, but at least there is a chance of a fair outcome.”
Headline: “Girl Scouts Punish Boy Scouts in Escalating Recruitment War.”
No, nothing is sacred in 2020.