– Faizul Haque
Donald Trump’s role in achieving the agreement (between Hamas and Israel) should not obscure the fact that he is blatantly biased towards Israel, and his calculations are as follows:
1- Trump has a narcissistic personality. He believes in his ability to achieve what others, including previous American presidents, could not. With this perspective, we can understand his tweet on the “Truth Social” platform on January 15, in which he said that “this epic ceasefire agreement would not have happened without our historic victory in November.” It also said, “My administration will seek peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans and our allies.”
2- Trump’s overall approach in foreign policy is that the United States should keep itself away from conflicts which do not primarily concern its national security and strategic interests. Although he does not mind supporting allies on a “contractual basis” and mutual interests, in which his country should have clear and major gains.
3- Trump’s insistence on reaching a ceasefire agreement before he is inaugurated as president, was based on the fact that he does not want to deal with his predecessor’s legacy in a way that will affect his priorities at the domestic and foreign levels.
3- British Foreign Secretary David Lammy believes that Trump, whom he had met earlier, wants to “change the rules of the game” in the Middle East by pushing for normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel within the framework of the “Abraham Accords.”
There is ample evidence that the Trump administration will be biased toward Israel. On the first day of his new presidency, January 20, 2025, he issued an executive order cancelling the sanctions that the Biden administration had imposed on groups and individuals of extremist Jewish settlers accused of involvement in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The White House said Trump had rescinded Executive Order 14115, issued on February 1, 2024, which authorized the imposition of certain sanctions “on individuals who undermine peace, security, or stability in the West Bank.” Biden had imposed sanctions on several Israeli settlement individuals and entities, including freezing their assets in the United States and prohibiting Americans from doing business with them. Trump’s executive order is an extension of his first administration’s approach to settlements. In 2019, his administration had abandoned the traditional US position that settlements are illegal. Biden had restored that position. Trump is also expected to lift his predecessor’s freeze on the supply of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. As for the future of the Gaza Strip, Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz confirms that Hamas will not return to rule the Gaza. “If Hamas violates this agreement and backs down, we will support Israel in doing what it needs to do,” he has warned.” As for the West Bank, the threat of Trump presidency cannot be underestimated, not only in terms of lifting the ban on settlements there but also about the annexation of about 60% of its areas, as he proposed in his plan “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People,” or as it was known as the “Deal of the Century,” in late January 2020. Trump said in August 2024, about two weeks after his meeting with Benyamin Netanyahu in Florida, that Israel’s area is very small on the map, and that we should think about how to expand it. Even the Gaza strip does not seem to be safe from Israeli annexation plans, particularly since Trump repeatedly talks about Gaza’s amazing coastline and its wonderful location, which would be “better than Monaco” if rebuilt. (ENDS)
(Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies)
Compiled and translated by Faizul Haque
