Trump's Middle East peace initiatives continue to bear fruit
Had Trump remained president, his legacy would have included making true peace in the Middle East. This would have encompassed Sunni Arab nations laying down arms as to Israel, while Iran would have been rendered inconsequential — and, perhaps, the beleaguered Iranian people might have been able to eject the mullahs. With Biden, though, Obama pulls the strings, which means wooing the mullahs, being hostile to Israel, and denigrating the Saudis. Nevertheless, some amazing Saudi outreach to Israel means that Trump's Middle East peace plans still matter.
Trump's genius in terms of the Middle East was to ignore the Palestinians into oblivion. Instead of pandering to their extreme demands — all of which were meant to block peace while they continued to their Iran-sponsored efforts to destroy Israel — he took things off the table. Suddenly, there was a U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, and the U.S. recognized Israel's control over the Golan Heights.
In 2020, despite the Wuhan virus, Trump went into overdrive sidelining the Palestinians. Resisting the same old push for a global Middle East peace that magically gave the unreasonable Palestinians everything they demanded, Trump brokered deals between Israel and individual Sunni Arab nations. These nations have no love for the Palestinians, who are seen as troublemakers, and view Israel as a valuable trading partner and a useful ally against Iran's continuous aggression against Sunnis as well as against Jews.
So it was that, in quick order, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain both entered in "Abraham Accords" with Israel, normalizing relationships between these Muslim nations and the Jewish state. At the same time, the Saudis began cleaning anti-Semitism out of their textbooks, while Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, who served as chairman of Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology, said he supported recognizing Israel.
All of this could have come tumbling down with Trump's departure from Washington. As Osama bin Laden noted, Arabs like a strong horse — and the open hostility that Biden is showing to Israel (for he's staffing his administration with anti-Semites) could have made them view Israel as a weak horse. That hasn't happened, though.
Part of the continued goodwill toward Israel undoubtedly flows from the fact that another Biden initiative is to woo the Iranians again. Just like his boss, Obama, Biden doesn't care that the Iranians still chant, "Death to America"; export terrorism that kills Americans as well as innocents around the globe; are well on their way to a nuclear weapon; and are open about their desire to exterminate Israel. Obama wants a deal with Iran, so Biden will sign one.
Given that Iran's hostility extends to fellow Muslims who are Sunni, rather than Shia, Biden's efforts to fund the mullahs threatens the Sunni Arab nations. This too makes friendship with Israel a good bet. As the ancient saying goes, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
And that gets us to Saudi Arabia. The Biden administration has been extremely hostile to the Saudis. First, Joe refused to deal with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is trying, slowly, gently, and steadily, to bring Saudi Arabia into the 20th (not a typo) century. Instead, he insists on dealing with King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud, who, at 85, is a spent force.
The Biden administration has also raised again Jamal Khashoggi, claiming that bin Salman ordered his murder, which bin Salman denies. Khashoggi, incidentally, was a truly vile, hate-filled Middle Eastern troublemaker.
No wonder, then, that Saudi Arabia is looking to strengthen its ties with Israel:
Saudi Twitter users have recently been pushing a new line of thought that plays up the importance of Muslims praying towards the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, while downplaying the importance of the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, Israel National News(INN) reported Sunday.
The controversial campaign appears to be designed to push the message emphasizing the importance of the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina as the holy places of Islam, and to eliminate the importance of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount for Muslims, thereby decreasing any Islamic authority the Palestinians have over the site.
[snip]
According to the report, the Saudi campaign is in response to the Palestinian insults online and chants against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia heard at at demonstrations at the Temple Mount after prayers on Fridays. The Saudis have quietly supported the recent Abraham Accords the established peace between four Arab countries and Israel, and that has infuriated the Palestinians.
The reaction of the Saudis is to emphasize that the Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem is simply a mosque like all mosques, but the direction of prayer for all Muslims no matter where they are on the planet is only towards to the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
With trends like this, it looks as if Trump will still leave as his legacy a true peace in the Middle East, despite Biden's best efforts to destroy it.
Image: Trump meets with Prince Mohammed bin Salman. YouTube screen grab.