Not more illuminated than before

It is still early to figure out what to make of Donald Trump’s visit to Israel, as the US president is known to make extemporaneous statements that may not accurately reflect his policy positions.

Trump’s impromptu statements at his joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday, may not be his final words, after all, on issues of war and peace in the region.

On the one hand, Trump called for renewed peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians, but failed to mention how and on what basis such efforts should be made, uttering a vague “we want Israel to have peace... and we must seize [opportunities] together and take advantage of the situation. There are many things that can happen now that would never have been able to happen before…”.

It is fine to want Israel to have peace, but what about the Palestinians?

Don’t they deserve the peace and justice they have been yearning for and were denied for more than half a century?

Trump is expressing worry about the menace posed by Iran, which he accuses of fuelling the fires of sectarian conflict and terror, and believes that this threat will bring together the region’s countries convinced of the need to check Tehran.

This “fixation” on Iran and its threats to regional peace and stability cannot be a substitute for real efforts to solve the ongoing regional conflicts, beginning with the Palestinian problem and ending with the six-year-old bloody civil war in Syria.

This one-sided approach to regional conflicts could give Israel the impression that it can override the Palestinian crisis altogether.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s words, while welcoming Trump at the airport, are telling: “Israel shares the commitment to peace that you made yesterday. The peace we seek is genuine and durable, in which the Jewish state is recognised, security remains in Israel’s hands, and the conflict ends once and for all.”

Right. 

Israel should be recognised as a Jewish state, meaning all the other ethnicities might be “tolerated” and probably treated like third-class citizens, security remains in Israel’s hands, meaning it maintains its tight control over borders, air and sea, and the conflict ends, meaning Palestinians will be forced to accept prone an inhumane occupation and abuse forever.

The message may be too subtle for some, but it is clear to all those who know the far-right Israeli mindset.

At the joint press conference with Trump, Netanyahu also said that “common dangers are turning former enemies into partners and that’s where we see something new and potentially very promising”, concluding: “I see a real hope for a change.”

A change from what, one may ask.

Forgetting all about the Palestinian case is not the kind of change that the region wants or seeks. 

Whatever declarations he makes to Mahmoud Abbas, with all the boasting, it seems, after all, that he will not be able to clinch “the “ultimate deal” he was promising, leaving the Palestinians with even less hope for the future.