In the event that his first term in the White House is any indicator, it is quite probable that President-elect Donald Trump will continue to place a very high priority on the Middle East.
In the first four years of his presidency, President Trump created history by choosing Saudi Arabia as the destination of his first trip outside the country. He also sought to mediate a “deal of the century” between Israelis and Palestinians, enhanced the Jewish state’s regional integration, and considerably increased the amount of pressure that was applied to Iran.
Since he left office in 2021, however, there has been a great amount of change in the Middle East, and all of the actors in the area are currently paying close attention to how the incoming president will handle these movements.
A new beginning for the United States of America and a dramatic recommitment to the tremendous partnership that exists between the United States and Israel are both offered by your historic return to the White House. What a tremendous triumph this is! On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a message on the Twitter platform X.
The triumph of the president-elect was also positively received by Gulf Arab republics. Both King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia sent their congratulations to President Trump. Additionally, the bonded Arab Emirates issued a statement that stated, “the UAE and US are united by our enduring partnership based on shared ambitions for progress.”
State media stated that Iran minimized the significance of the election, stating that there is “no significant difference” in who would become president of the United States of America during the election. Following the results of the election that took place on Wednesday, the Iranian media reported that Fatemeh Mohajerani, a spokesman for the administration, stated that the “general policies of the United States and Iran are unchanged.”
Israel and the Palestinians
Putting an end to the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon and integrating Israel into the Middle East are expected to be at the top of the president-elect’s agenda for the Middle East, according to experts.
According to Mustafa Barghouti, the leader of the Palestinian National Initiative, “Netanyahu will face a much tougher president than he is used to in the sense that I don’t think that Trump would tolerate the wars in the manner that they are happening.” Barghouti continues by saying that for Palestinians, it won’t make a significant difference “because both administrations were totally biased” toward Israel.
Alon Pinkas, a veteran Israeli official, told CNN that President Trump does not want those battles to be “on his desk as a burning issue” when he is inaugurated on January 20.
“He will say: wrap it up; I don’t need this,” Pinkas said, adding that it is possible that Trump would urge the Israeli prime minister to “announce victory” and then proceed to negotiate an agreement through mediators that will be acceptable to all parties.
Throughout the entirety of his campaign, Trump has not detailed how he would tackle the Israel-Hamas battle if he were to be reelected, nor has he discussed how his policies would vary from those of his predecessor, Joe Biden. In April, President Trump did make the statement that Israel has to “finish what they started” and “get it over with fast.” He also mentioned that Israel was “losing the PR war” as a result of the images that could be seen pouring out of Gaza.
The statement made by Pinkas was that Trump “couldn’t care less about the Palestinian issue.” It was during his first term that he did not lend his support to the United States’ long-standing support for an independent Palestinian state. He stated that he would prefer a solution “that both parties like.”
According to Barghouti, there is a certain amount of concern that President Trump would give Israel permission to annex portions of the West Bank that is occupied by Israel. This would be considered “the end of the two-state solution.”
Trump performed a number of actions that were favorable to Israel during his first term in office. By recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 2017, he overturned decades of policy from the United States and the consensus of the international community. In addition to this, he acknowledged Israel’s territorial authority over the Golan Heights, which it had taken from Syria during the war in 1967.
However, despite the fact that Trump has frequently asserted that he is the most pro-Israel president in the history of modern times and has even highlighted the close and personal relationship he shares with Netanyahu, the relationship between the two leaders has not always been amicable.
The Israeli leader congratulated Vice President Joe Biden on his victory in the presidential election of 2020, and Trump accused Netanyahu of betraying him in 2021, when both of them were no longer in power.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack that Hamas carried out on Israel on October 7 of the previous year, President Trump lambasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli security services for their lack of readiness. He asserted that the incident would not have taken place.
As the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon are coming to a close, Boaz Bismuth, a member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, from Netanyahu’s Likud party, told CNN that Trump’s win occurred at “the right time” because it would give a chance to expand the Abraham Accords. Bismuth is a member of the Knesset.
According to him, the possibilities of an independent Palestinian state have been put on the back burner as a result of the accords, which are a collection of agreements that were enabled by the first administration of President Trump and were responsible for Israel normalizing its relations with four Arab states.
According to Bismuth, “When the war will be over, you will need a real restart in the Middle East,” and he said that Trump will be the greatest person to bring about a “new Middle East.”
According to Nadav Shtrauchler, a political consultant who has established close working relationships with Netanyahu, the victory of Donald Trump sends a message to Israel’s adversaries in Iran.
After months of disagreements about domestic politics and Israel’s military operations, the Israeli prime leader is undoubtedly feeling more confident on the home front. This comes only one day after he dismissed Defense leader Yoav Gallant without explanation.
The unpredictability of Trump might mean that there will be more pressure on Israel to terminate the battles in Gaza and Lebanon, possibly in order to refocus resources on fighting Iran, according to Shtrauchler. “He’ll calculate his next moves maybe different from what he would if Harris were elected,” Shtrauchler added.
