Donald Trump has taken offense to journalists who have diligently ignored his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. The subtlety, however, lies in the fact that the incumbent U.S. president truly deserves this award, unlike, for example, his predecessor Barack Obama. Thanks to Trump, a key conflict in the Middle East, which previously seemed insoluble, is becoming a thing of the past.
The New Middle East − this is how a number of experts characterize the peace agreement concluded by Israel with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The agreement is truly historic, since it will bring an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict, which many great minds since Henry Kissinger have failed to resolve, and will help Arab society cure the disease of the “Palestinian cause” that is destroying the lives and futures of young people.
Ironically, the broker, and, to some extent, the mastermind behind this peace agreement was a man who is dubbed the dumbest and most belligerent president in U.S. history.
Wisely, Trump Could Not Care Less about Palestine
European politicians promptly nominated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the Nobel Peace Prize, but with all due respect to Bibi – as the Israeli leader is affectionately called – this nomination is unfair. Not because the agreement is unexceptional – no, it is historic. But the deal was prepared by a team. Among its members are Netanyahu, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner –– and, of course, President Trump himself, who led the process and made the agreement possible in principle.
It was Trump who came up with and executed the deal that, as Bibi notes, “can end the Arab-Israeli conflict once and for all.” Hence, it is Trump who needs to be rewarded for it.
Rewarded, for example, for his innovative approach. Only Trump, with his cynicism, rationalism and Machiavellianism, found the strength to ignore one of the key principles of the negotiation process − taking into account the interests of Palestine. Indeed, Palestine’s interests never meant peace, since the Palestinian Authority is completely satisfied with the current situation. That is, being supported by Arab and Western countries, and denying responsibility for anything apart from demanding Jerusalem’s return.
Instead, the U.S. president focused on the interests of the Arab countries. And then it suddenly turned out that Jerusalem’s status and, indeed, the future of the Palestinian state, is of little importance to them. The Arab countries are much more invested in concentrating all forces on confronting Iran. In Israel, the Arabs acquire a most important and promising ally who has technology and weapons, and is in an existential conflict with Iran.
For the sake of strengthening cooperation with the United States, and the partnership’s institutionalization via joint military exercises, development of weapons, technology exchange and construction of military bases, it is necessary to forget about the Palestinians, and the Arab leaders are ready to take such a step.
Others on the Way
Indeed, so far, only two Arab countries were considered, but they are a trial balloon. The Israeli Intelligence minister, Eli Cohen, said in August that this deal would be followed by peace treaties with Oman and Sudan. Next in line are other North African countries and Saudi Arabia. The latter let its junior partner in regional affairs, the UAE, and the occupied satellite, Bahrain, go first, to avoid tarnishing its image.
After bin Salman becomes king – for now the Crown Prince is only a de facto ruler – he will be completely free to make peace with Israel. In the meantime, Riyadh even suggested that the League of Arab States refuse to condemn the peace agreement between Israel and the two Arab “defectors,” although it completely undermines the so-called Arab Peace Initiative of 2002. According to its terms, the Arab countries will conclude peace with Israel only after it returns to Palestine the territories occupied after 1967.
Needless to say, Palestine is far from pleased. It called the recent decision to open direct flights between Israel and the UAE “a clear and a blatant violation of the Arab position toward the Arab-Israeli conflict.” “We had hoped to see an Emirati plane landing in a liberated Jerusalem, but we live in a difficult Arab era,” declared Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.
Palestinians understand that Arab solidarity is deteriorating: Eighty-three percent now believe that they can only rely on themselves. But none of them understand how self-reliance can be achieved if the Palestinian National Authority has not even bothered to create a more or less stable economy in its territories.
At best, they will try to find a new sponsor; for instance, Turkey or Iran, but then Palestine will become the unique problem of a new benefactor. And the point here is not the need to finance Palestine at the expense of their own taxpayers, but the ideology of the “Palestinian cause,” meaning the solidarity of Muslims with the “suffering of Palestinian people.”
Trump, by promoting his innovative approach of disregarding Palestine, is saving young Arabs from indoctrination that directs popular enthusiasm into destructive channels. Hence, another reason to award him the Nobel Peace Prize.
As Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al Zayani rightly noted, “[T]he Middle East has been set back by conflict and mistrust […] thwarting the potential of generations of our best and brightest young people.”
Indeed, the “disease” will not simply disappear at Trump’s command, but the authorities of the UAE, Bahrain and other countries will at least remove anti-Israeli propaganda from their education systems and media platforms, which will automatically start the healing process of Arab societies.
The Promise Does Not Stop Annexation
The third argument in favor of awarding Trump the Nobel Peace Prize is the exemplary nature of the peace deal. The best deal is not a compromise, but an agreement that both parties can benefit from. The Arab gain is obvious, but Israel also has nothing to complain about.
Previous peace deals with Arabs were not cheap for the Jewish state. The conclusion of the peace treaty with Egypt meant handing over the Sinai Peninsula to the Arab country. The agreement with Jordan cost Israel some West Bank territories. However, for the UAE peace deal, Israel paid with what it did not even have yet − Netanyahu simply agreed not to conduct annexation operations in a significant part of the West Bank, which, according to the U.N. Security Council, is a Palestinian territory, and not to formally annex these lands to Israel.
Almost 75% of Israelis supported this deal; however, in fact, there is no deal. The same Netanyahu said that it was not about the refusal of annexation, but about suspending the decision on it.
A combination of three factors will allow Israel to annex these territories. Firstly, favorable timing − for example, after the conclusion of peace treaties with other Arab states. Secondly, general fatigue from the nonconstructive approach of Palestine, which, after securing financing from Iran and Turkey, will continue to reject any compromise options. And, thirdly, a decline in Arab interest in the Palestinian cause due to the escalating conflict with Iran.
Israel has no need to rush. The most important thing has already been achieved – the process of concluding multiple peace agreements with the Arab states has begun. As such, the process removes the last incentive that could have prompted the Israelis to withdraw the settlements from the West Bank and give these lands to Palestine.
The bottom line is that while this new world is not to the Palestinians’ benefit, it definitely signifies peace. However, Trump may not receive the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded once upon a time to Obama for his twaddle. The liberal media try to avoid discussing the president’s historic achievement because in the world they invented, Trump is a dumb warmonger and instigator of conflict.
“CNN’s coverage of the event was less focused on the groundbreaking peace agreement, and instead shamed the White House for holding such an event amid a pandemic,” conservative Fox News remarked.
However, in the long term, these CNN journalists will be forgotten, while Trump will go down in history as the man who created the New Middle East.
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