Will Trump be Israel’s friend? U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right). Illustrative. Photo courtesy of Kobi Gideon (GPO)
Following the dramatic election of Donald Trump to be the next U.S. President, Israelis and Palestinians have found another thing to agree upon—that Trump would bring about a solution to their decades old conflict. Just weeks after the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour threatened to make Trump’s “life miserable” if the new American leader fulfilled his promise to move the U.S. embassy to Israel to Jerusalem, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed hope that Trump would solve the Palestinian conflict. Abbas’ comments were made during a lengthy speech at the seventh Fatah Conference, according to The Times of Israel.
Meanwhile, Israel’s top diplomat expressed similar hope in comments to “This Week in Asia.” Tzipi Hotovely, commenting on a report by The New York Times that Trump’s son-in-law could be a emissary to address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, said they would welcome Jared Kushner to the region.
“We would be so happy if someone could bring peace to the Middle East,” said Hotovely.
The hopeful comments about Trump from both sides of the conflict come as Al-Monitor reported that Abbas banned the Palestinians from commenting on Trump beyond calling on him to support the two-state approach. Reported al-Monitor, Abbas was not happy with Mansour’s threat of Trump, amidst concerns they could end up on Trump’s bad side.
Trump’s position on the Israel-Palestinian conflict is largely unknown due to his lack of practical political experience. Trump has said he’s a good negotiator that could reach a historic deal between the sides and also promised to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem—a significant promise because both Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, November 30, 2016)