World


Middle East Gets Ready for Trump


President’s return provokes anxiety and delight, says


correspondent Judith Miller. T


he first world leader to call President-elect Donald Trump to laud his stunning political comeback was Israel’s


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Congratulations on history’s great-


est comeback!” Netanyahu told the incoming president, who, among other similarities, shares his desire for a tougher stance on Iran. But not far behind Netanyahu were


the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), both of whom worked closely with Trump during his first term. In cables, Saudi King Salman and


his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler, hailed the “close relations between the two friendly countries and peoples, which everyone seeks to strengthen and


develop in all fields.” The champagne was also being


uncorked in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, which pioneered the Trump administration’s signature achieve- ment — what Trump called “the deal of the century” — the 2020 Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and four Arab states: the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. In Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel


Fattah el-Sissi was said by one veteran U.S. diplomat to be “apprehensively thrilled” by the prospect of the return to office of the president who had once called him his “favorite dictator.” While the Emirates, Saudi Arabia,


and Egypt remain concerned about Trump’s legendary unpredictabil- ity, they value his highly personal and transactional approach to foreign poli- cy, which mirrors how so many of them prefer doing diplomatic business. They also hope that Trump will be


more successful than Joe Biden not only in containing Iran, but in pres- suring Netanyahu to end Israel’s war in Gaza and devise a path to statehood


for the Palestinians. In November, the Saudi crown


prince toughened Riyadh’s diplomatic stance by accusing Israel of “genocide” against the Palestinians and said that an independent Palestinian state had to be established before he would join the Abraham Accords. The creation of such a Palestinian


state, however, seems unlikely given the staunch opposition to the so-called “two-state” solution from not only the right-wing nationalists in Netanyahu’s cabinet, but also some 70% of Israelis who now oppose the idea after Hamas’ devastating Oct. 7 attack, when terror- ists killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others, dozens of whom remain in Gaza. Israel’s retaliation in response to


the greatest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, half of whom are said to be women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilian and fighter deaths. While most Arab leaders in states


that have recognized Israel know that Hamas has brought this misery upon its own people by using them as human shields, they must also tread carefully in light of their own populations’ fury over the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.


While the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt remain concerned about Trump’s legendary unpredictability, they value his highly personal and transactional approach to foreign policy, which mirrors how so many of them prefer doing diplomatic business.


44 NEWSMAX | JANUARY 2025


TRUMP©REUTERS / ISRAEL/AMIR LEVY/GETTY IMAGES


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