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 victory in the 2016 election is the best example, and it is another to command the development and approval of COVID-19 vaccines in just nine months.
The Abraham Accords are an impressive third success. When Trump took office, only two Arab nations, Egypt and Jordan, had treaties with Israel, a situation that has existed unchanged since 1994. There are now six regional nations with diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
“We’re making it seem easy,” joked Jared Kushner, whose persistent, tireless diplomacy helped bring about historic advances.
Of course, there was nothing easy about adding the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan to the list of those who recognize Israel’s right to exist and open trade and tourist routes, which should give a boost. economic to all participants. If it had been easy, the offers could have been signed at any time in the last 75 years.
They 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) in the House Blanca was a direct result of his policies. Most prominent was his position on two fundamental issues: he would bring America closer to Israel and treat Iran as the dangerous pariah it is.
Both positions represented a reversal of the policies of the Obama-Biden administration, which had treated Israel as a problem and Iran as an opportunity. The result was eight years of uninterrupted failure: a freeze on talks between Israel and the Palestinians and a valiant Iran aggressively propagating chaos and terror.
Trump, on the other hand, “was not tied to what had happened before and pushed people out of their comfort zone,” Kushner said in an interview. “We were transactional and it gave us a lot of leeway.”
The “comfort zone” Trump faced included decades of wisdom received from the U.S. State Department and foreign ministries around the world. They insisted that progress would be made after America pushed 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 meant that Iran’s nuclear pact, designed by Obama, would domesticate the pursuit of mad dock domination.
All of these assumptions were wrong.
Trump, Kushner, David Friedman – the US ambassador to Israel – and others took a different approach. They believed that embracing Israel and isolating Iran by withdrawing from the nuclear deal and imposing sanctions would transform the region. They were right.
The first test was decided in 2017 to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which, instead of causing widespread Arab unrest, produced only small rumors. Similarly, the recognition of Israel’s annexation to the heights of the Golan did not provoke explosions.
This “merger with Israel” as Kushner calls it, as it confronted Iran, served as a cry for Arab nations tired of Palestinian rejection and fearful of Iranian military intentions. They increasingly saw Israel, with its powerful military, as an ally against Iran.
“Everyone who takes a flight between Israel and any of these countries becomes an ambassador for the Abraham Accords,” Kushner said. “It just shows that all the old thinking about what was possible had passed its time.”
An American involved in the process noted that unthinkable events just a few months ago, such as the opening of kosher restaurants in Dubai and the Arabs asking Israelis to visit to take pictures together, happen so quickly and often that not even they are only informative.
While this is not yet the lion that gets on with the lamb, there is a chance to expand the alliance. Saudi Arabia has joined its unofficial ties with Israel and the Crown Prince has recently met with Netanyahu.
The Palestinians, who foolishly fooled Trump and refused to negotiate with Kushner, have said since the election that they will resume talks with Israel and Washington. As always, expect them to get over their hands and reject all offers that may improve the lives of their citizens.
Kushner, who has endured many bats 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 take a moment and see that what we have been doing is based on a logical basis,” he says, adding that he would like “the next administration to follow the path.”
It would be smart and clever to recognize chords as a gift. Instead, Biden has already said he hopes to rejoin the deal with Iran, which would undermine the new alliance and generate nervousness over Iranian aggression. He also plans to resume payments to the Palestinians, which Trump ended up because the money was used to pay “salaries” to the families of the terrorists who killed the Israelis.
In addition, many of Biden’s fellow Democrats are openly hostile to Israel, especially under Netanyahu, and some, including Rep. Ilan Omar (D-Minn.), Routinely use anti-Semitic troops.
All of this suggests the opportunity for historical stability and regional economic growth that Trump created is in jeopardy by Biden’s backward thinking. What a waste, what a tragic waste.
Hypocrisy of silence
The mayor, governor, City Council, and state legislature ride the hobbies of social justice and Black Lives Matter. So why are they silent about the growing number of murdered black New Yorkers?
As of Dec. 20, the NYPD reports that 437 people have been killed in 2020, up from 314 for the same period last year, up 39 percent. This means an additional 123 victims and, if past patterns are maintained, the vast majority of deaths, perhaps up to 95%, are black or Latino.
In all, more than 1,800 people have been shot in the city, an increase of nearly 1,000 from last year. In recent years, almost all of those shot were black and Latino, as were the shooters, according to police reports.
Where is the outrage?
A Dem Hunter hunt? Yes, yes
File it at Fat Chance.
Reader Jeffrey Tew, a Miami attorney, supports a special attorney for the Hunter Biden probe. He writes: “Democrats expect us to believe that a attorney general appointed by Joe Biden would charge son Hunter or brother Jim if the evidence justifies a charge. We are supposed to 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 find it difficult to file a charge if justified, but at least there would be the possibility of a fair outcome.”
Title: “Girl Scouts reprimand Boy Scouts on escalating recruitment war.”
No, nothing is sacred in 2020.