Trump aide says 'disruptive' approach opens new Mideast opportunities
Donald Trump's national security adviser praises his boss's 'disruptive' foreign policy approach, saying his unconventional ways and penchant for seeking new ideas rather than ‘debating over doctrine’ could create an opportunity to ultimately help stabilize the Middle East; PA official says ‘things are looking better than expected’ ahead of Trump-Abbas meeting.
Trump faces deep skepticism at home and abroad over his chances for a breakthrough with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, not least because the new US administration has yet to articulate a cohesive strategy for restarting long-stalled peace talks.
Seeming to brush aside such concerns, national security adviser H.R. McMaster said on Israel Independence Day celebration in Washington on Tuesday night that Trump "does not have time to debate over doctrine" and instead seeks to challenge failed policies of the past with a businessman's results-oriented approach.
Trump's unpredictability has rattled friends and foes alike around the world. Some analysts doubt Trump can succeed where experienced Middle East hands failed for decades, especially when trust between Israelis and Palestinians is at a low point.
"The president is not a super-patient man," McMaster said. "Some people have described him as disruptive. They're right. And this is good; good because we can no longer afford to invest in policies that do not advance the interests and values of the United States and our allies."
Trump's meeting with Abbas, the Western-backed head of the Palestinian Authority (PA), will be another test of whether Trump, in office a little more than 100 days, is serious about pursuing what he has called the "ultimate deal" of Israeli-Palestinian peace that eluded his predecessors.
Abbas's White House talks on Wednesday follow a mid-February visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who moved quickly to reset ties after a frequently combative relationship with Trump's predecessor, President Barack Obama.
Though expectations are low, plans are being finalized for Trump to visit the Israeli leader in Jerusalem and possibly Abbas in the West Bank, possibly on May 22-23, according to people familiar with the matter. US and Israeli officials have declined to confirm the visit.
Questions about Kushner
Questions have been raised about Trump's choice of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who entered the White House with no government experience, to oversee Middle East peace efforts, along with Trump's longtime business lawyer, Jason Greenblatt, as on-the-ground envoy.
A decorated Army general, McMaster said "arduous circumstances, including Islamic State militancy and a growing regional threat from Iran may allow us to resolve what some have regarded as intractable problems, problems like disputes between Israel and the Palestinians.
"President Trump has taken a typically unconventional and fresh approach to this problem," McMaster said in a rare public speech.
Having campaigned on an "America First" platform, Trump has acted forcefully against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with no clear policy prescription and engaged in brinkmanship with North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs.
The White House has been vague about what Trump hopes to accomplish with Abbas. US-brokered peace talks collapsed in 2014.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump would press the Palestinian leader to halt payments by the PLO to families of militants jailed by Israel and to stop anti-Israel incitement by Palestinian media.
The administration seeks to enlist Israel's Sunni Arab neighbors, who share Israeli concerns about Shi'ite Iran, to help rejuvenate Middle East peacemaking.
Abbas under pressure at home
Abbas, who governs in the West Bank while Hamas militants rule Gaza, is under pressure at home to avoid making major concessions to Trump, especially with an ongoing hunger strike by hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Abbas, said the Palestinian leadership "is committed to a political track that leads to a real peace." However, Israel has cast repeated doubt on this notion, particularly in light of the PA's payment packages it provides to those who carry out terror attacks against Israelis and its incitement to violence.
But Palestinian officials say it will be hard for Abbas to return to the negotiating table without a long-standing pre-condition of a freeze on Israeli settlement expansion on land Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Trump has been unclear about whether he supports a two-state solution, a bedrock of US policy for decades.
His promise to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, strongly opposed by Palestinians, has apparently been shifted to the back burner, and he has asked Netanyahu to put unspecified limits on settlement activity.
Nevertheless, Vice President Mike Pence recently said that "The president of the United States, as we speak, is giving serious consideration into moving the American embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,"
Trump told Reuters last week: "There is no reason there's not peace between Israel and the Palestinians—none whatsoever."
'Things are better than expected'
But despite concerns, particularly in the media, that Trump intends to back Israel every step of the way in any potential negotiations between the warring parties, a senior PA official told Ynet that in fact, that “things are looking better than expected,"
He went on to say that "We are attending this (US-PA) summit when the embassy's move to Jerusalem is no longer an issue and after some very productive visits by US advisor on Israel Jason Greenblatt and CIA Director Mike Pompeo."
With that, the official added that despite Trump's statements about his aim to make the ultimate deal to resolve the decade-long conflict, they are not hanging their hopes on it since in their opinion Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in a two-state solution.
"Netanyahu wants to keep the two-state solution alive only on an international level, but in the meantime he is killing it on the local level," said the official.
According to the PA official, the only issue on which progress could realistically be made is the economy.
For that reason, Abbas will be joined in his upcoming visit by his Deputy Prime Minister and the PA Minister of National Economy, Dr. Mohammad A. Mustafa, and by PA Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr.
"We believe that what the Americans could offer at the moment are just economic reliefs and gestures," said the PA official.
The official added that the Palestinians have presented their stance to the Americans, but have not heard back from them at all. "We don't know if the American government is intending to do something to halt the construction of settlements or if they even plan on using the term 'two state solution' in the summit with Abbas.
Fatah official Jibril Rajoub commented on the summit saying "we believe now more than ever that with unequivocal support by the US, a peace treaty with Israel and the Palestinians is possible, even if it seems far from us today."
