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| US President Donald Trump (R) welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, DC, February 15, 2017. (AFP/Mandel Ngan) |
President Donald Trump hinted to Netanyahu that
he should “hold back” on settlements. Netanyahu promised to “examine” that
issue. There was no commitment on either side, just vague, meaningless
statements. Netanyahu was obviously minding his p’s and queues. He did not wish
to say anything that would antagonize his extremist right wing flank led by
Naftali Bennett, Leader of the extremist right wing party, Habayit Hayehudi,
back home. No mention was made of the Two-State Solution. Trump somehow saved
the day by saying that he will go with any solution, one-state or two-state depending
on what the parties to the conflict want. Trump has no knowledge of the
conflict at all or at best, a very superficial knowledge. Maybe it is better
that way. President Trump is very unpredictable in any case and even if he
would “close a deal” he may change his mind later because of a personal whim or
fancy.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters at a press briefing on Wednesday that he asked U.S. President Donald Trump in their meeting to have the U.S. recognize the Golan Heights as part of Israel. 2
What was significant in this Joint Press
Conference was what was not even mentioned. There was no mention of the
resignation of
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who had misled the White House over his phone calls with the
Russian ambassador to Washington. According to press reports, it was Flynn that
helped organize the Trump-Netanyahu meeting. The cozy and admiring relationship
between Trump and Putin also raises questions. Is it possible that Putin knows
something about Trump that if revealed could result in Trump’s downfall? Time
will tell. Putin of Russia is a wily and ruthless leader. He has well honed
skills from his experience in the KGB.
President Donald Trump said he would support the peace agreement Israel and Palestinians "like the best" in a joint press conference during which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed against Palestinian efforts to reach a deal. 3
In the biggest blow to Mr. Trump's nascent presidency, his National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned after it emerged he held secret talks with Russia before entering the White House. 4
“General Flynn's resignation also raises further questions about the Trump administration's intentions towards Vladimir Putin's Russia, including statements by the president suggesting moral equivalence between the United States and Russia,” Arizona Sen. John McCain said in a statement Tuesday. 5
The whole Trump-Netanyahu meeting appears to be
a shallow show of meaningless platitudes uttered between the two leaders in
order to satisfy those whose ears are tuned to what they wanted to hear.
An Israeli press reporter asked a question about
the increase of anti-Semitic incidents on President Trump’s watch so far. While
Trump did not deny the racism issue, he did not make any mention of
anti-Semitism. Was he skirting the anti-Semitic issue because he did not wish
to antagonize his anti-Semitic supporters, some of whom are in his
administration? He skirted the issue in a way that satisfied everybody by
making statements that the American people are very divided and under his watch
and that “we
will see a lot of love”.
President Trump is a successful businessman and
tycoon. He views the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict as nothing more his desire to
reach “the ultimate deal” in which his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will be a
partner (mediator). A One-State or Two-State Solution makes no difference to
him. As long as it is the “Art of the Deal”, it looks as if we have no room for
any form of optimism even with improvement of Israel’s relationship with the
Arab States as Netanyahu claims.
It appears that the Trump-Netanyahu meeting is nothing but a back-slapping, supercilious charade with no substance that can raise our hopes for peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbours.
1. 16 Feb. 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/15/politics/trump-netanyahu-two-state-solution-israel-palestinians/. Accessed 16 Feb. 2017.
3.15 Feb. 2017, http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-netanyahu-i-d-see-you-hold-back-settlements-little-n721351. Accessed 16 Feb. 2017.
4. 16 Feb. 2017, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/donald-trump-russia-connections-presidents-bromance-putin-campaigns/. Accessed 16 Feb. 2017.
5. 15 Feb. 2017, http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/15/14614016/flynn-resigned-trump-russia-fbi-sanctions. Accessed 16 Feb. 2017.
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