Donald Trump’s legacy, like the man himself, will be complicated, but the only certainty will be his track record of achieving what conventional wisdom said could not be done. His shocking world victory in the 2016 elections is the best example, and leading the development and approval of COVID-19 vaccines in just nine months is another.
Abraham’s agreements are a third impressive achievement. When Trump took office, only two Arab nations, Egypt and Jordan, had dealt with Israel, a situation that has been unchanged since 1994. There are now six regional nations with diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
“We are making it look easy,” joked Jared Kushner, whose persistent and tireless diplomacy helped ensure historic advances.
Of course, it was not easy to add the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan to the list of those who recognize Israel’s right to exist and open trade and tourism routes, which should give an economic boost to all participants. If it were easy, business could have been established at any time in the past 75 years.
The fact that they were signed with Trump (shown with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan) at the White House it was a direct result of their policies. The main one was his position on two fundamental issues: he would bring the United States closer to Israel and treat Iran as the dangerous outcast it is.
Both positions represented a reversal of the policies of the Obama-Biden administration, which treated Israel as a problem and Iran as an opportunity. The result was eight years of uninterrupted failure – a freeze in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and an encouraged Iran aggressively spreading chaos and terror.
Trump, on the other hand, “was disconnected from what had happened before and pushed people out of their comfort zone,” said Kushner in an interview. “We were transactional and he gave us a lot of room to maneuver”.
The “comfort zone” faced by Trump included decades of wisdom received at the US State Department and at ministries of foreign affairs around the world. They insisted that progress would come after the United States pressured Israel to make peace with the Palestinians, which could eventually lead to a gradual warming of relations between Israel and the Arab states.
Conventional wisdom also assumed that the nuclear pact with Iran, designed by Obama, would tame the search for mad mullahs for dominance.
All of these assumptions were wrong.
Trump, Kushner, David Friedman – America’s ambassador to Israel – and others took another approach. They believed that embracing Israel and isolating Iran, withdrawing from the nuclear deal and re-imposing sanctions, would reshape the region. They were right.
The first test was to decide in 2017 to transfer the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which, instead of leading to widespread Arab riots, produced only small grumbles. Likewise, Israel’s recognition of the annexation of the Golan Heights caused no explosion.
This “merger with Israel”, as Kushner calls it, while facing Iran served as a rallying cry for Arab nations tired of Palestinian rejection and afraid of Iranian military intentions. They increasingly saw Israel, with its powerful military, as an ally against Iran.
“All who fly between Israel and any of these countries become ambassadors for the Abraham Accords,” said Kushner. “It just shows that all the old thinking about what was possible was long past its time.”
An American involved in the process noted that events unthinkable just a few months ago, such as kosher restaurants opening in Dubai and Arabs asking Israeli visitors to take pictures together, are happening so fast and often that they are hardly worth mentioning.
Although it is not yet the lion lying with the lamb, there is an opportunity to expand the alliance. Saudi Arabia has increased its unofficial ties with Israel, and the Crown Prince recently met with Netanyahu.
The Palestinians, who foolishly cursed Trump and refused to negotiate with Kushner, have said since the election that they will resume dialogue with Israel and Washington. As always, expect them to exaggerate and reject any offer that might improve their citizens’ lives.
Kushner, who endured many obstacles as Trump’s son-in-law and special adviser, is always the diplomat when asked what he thinks Biden will do.
“My hope is that people will stop for a moment and see that what we have done is built on a logical basis,” he says, adding that he would like to see “the next government go the way”.
It would be wise and smart to recognize the deals as a gift. Instead, Biden has said he hopes to return to the Iran deal, which would undermine the new alliance and create nervousness about Iranian aggression. He also plans to resume payments to the Palestinians, which Trump ended because the money was used to pay “wages” to the families of terrorists who killed Israelis.
In addition, many of Biden’s fellow Democrats are openly hostile to Israel, especially under Netanyahu, and some, including MP Ilan Omar (D-Minn.), Routinely use anti-Semitic tropes.
All of this suggests that the opportunity for historic stability and regional economic growth created by Trump is threatened by Biden’s backward thinking. What a waste, what a tragic waste.
Hypocrisy of silence
The mayor, the governor, the city council and the state legislature are riding the workhorses of social justice and the importance of black life. Why, then, are they silent about the growing number of black New Yorkers being murdered?
As of December 20, the NYPD reports that 437 people were murdered in 2020, compared to 314 in the same period last year, an increase of 39 percent. That means 123 more victims and, if the patterns of the past remain, the vast majority of those killed, perhaps up to 95%, are black or Latino.
In total, more than 1,800 people were shot in the city, an increase of almost 1,000 victims compared to last year. In recent years, almost all of those shot have been black and Latino, as have snipers, according to police reports.
Where’s the outrage?
A hunt for Dem Hunter? Okay, right
File this one here in Fat Chance.
Reader Jeffrey Tew, a Miami attorney, supports a special attorney for Hunter Biden’s investigation. He writes: “Democrats expect us to believe that an attorney general appointed by Joe Biden would indict his son Hunter or Brother Jim if the evidence justified an accusation. We must believe that the new AG, which will be a lifelong Democrat, will be the first in American history to allow the indictment of a family member of the president who appointed him.
“Even a special lawyer would have a hard time bringing a prosecution if justified, but at least there would be a chance of a fair outcome.”
Title: “Girl Scouts scold Scouts for escalating the recruitment war”.
No, nothing is sacred in 2020.