Trump, the Middle East Peacemaker

The term “historic” is often overused in our modern culture. But what President Trump is doing to bring peace and stability to our planet is exactly that – historic.

This week he hosted the leaders of the UAE, Bahrain, and Israel to sign separate peace treaties and normalization with Israel. Here are some highlights of the ceremony:

Trump: We’re here this afternoon to change the course of history. After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East. Thanks to the great courage of the leaders of these three countries, we take a major stride toward a future in which people of all faiths and backgrounds live together in peace and prosperity. In a few moments, these visionary leaders will sign the first two peace deals between Israel and the Arab state in more than a quarter century. In Israel’s entire history, there have previously been only two such agreements; now we have achieved two in a single month, and there are more to follow.

Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain will establish embassies, exchange ambassadors, and begin to cooperate and work together so strongly, to cooperate as partners across the broad range of sectors from tourism to trade and healthcare to security; they’re going to work together. They are friends.

Together, these agreements will serve as the foundation for a comprehensive peace across the entire region, something which nobody thought was possible, certainly not in this day and age, maybe in many decades from now, but one founded on shared interests, mutual respect and friendship, to our honored guests from Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Congratulations on this outstanding achievement. Congratulations. Fantastic.

Once again, let me congratulate the people of Israel, the people of the United Arab Emirates and the people of the kingdom of Bahrain. God bless you all. This is an incredible day for the world. This is a really wonderful and beautiful occasion.

Prime Minister Netanyahu: Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. President, this day is a pivot of history. It heralds a new dawn of peace. For thousands of years, the Jewish people have prayed for peace. For decades, the Jewish state has prayed for peace. And this is why, today, we’re filled with such profound gratitude. I am grateful to you, President Trump, for your decisive leadership. You have unequivocally stood by Israel’s side. You have boldly confronted the tyrants of Tehran. You’ve proposed a realistic vision for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and you have successfully brokered the historic peace that we are signing today, a peace that has broad support in Israel, in America, in the Middle East, indeed in the entire world.”

Netanyahu was given a gold key. Obama made him enter through the back door. Very nice symbolism there by Trump.

Abdullatif Al Zayani: Ladies and gentlemen, today’s agreement is an important first step. And it is now incumbent on us to work urgently and actively to bring about the lasting peace and security our peoples deserve. A just, comprehensive and enduring two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will be the foundation, the bedrock of such peace. We have shown today that such a path is possible, even realistic. What was only dreamed of a few years ago is now achievable. And we can see before us a golden opportunity for peace, security and prosperity for our region. Let us, together and with our international partners, waste no time in seizing it. Thank you.

So this deal (and likely others) begs the question: How was Trump able to do this when all others had failed over a period of decades. Easy. By NOT doing what they did. What a concept. If you haven’t noticed by now, Trump pretty much balls up convention wisdom, throws it in the trash heap and sets it on fire. Trump made the comment that they were there to change history. He doesn’t play small ball- he goes big. Or Yuge. Yes it carries a risk but the rewards, if successful, are great. And in this case far reaching. Ronald Reagan would be proud.

So what exactly did Trump do to be successful where others have failed? He went “around” the Palestinians. It really is that simple. Think back to all the past negotiations. It was always about the Palestinians and a two state state solution. Problem was they never wanted that. They just used that as a pretext to get Israel to give up something while they continued to launch attacks on them. Even Bill Clinton was astounded when Arafat walked away from the sweetest deal the PLO ever got. But don’t take my word for it. Here is what John Kerry said about it as recently as 2016:

There will be no separate peace between Israel and the Arab world. I want to make that very clear to all of you. I’ve heard several prominent politicians in Israel sometimes saying, “Well, the Arab world is in a different place now. We just have to reach out to them and we can work some things with the Arab world, and we’ll deal with the Palestinians.” No. No, no, and no. I can tell you that, reaffirmed even in the last week, as I have talked to leaders in the Arab community. There will be no advance and separate peace with the Arab world without the Palestinian process and Palestinian peace. Everybody needs to understand that. That is a hard reality.

Don’t you just love the arrogance of these leftists who think they are soooo smart. Well Trump just blew your “hard reality” to smithereens. What was that old quote about the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over expecting a different result?

I find it interesting that Kerry dismisses the possibility that other Arab leaders desired to have separate treaties with Israel. Trump has proven that the desire was there. I wonder for how long? This could have been done at least 4 years ago and maybe longer. You see the quote above that the were EAGER to normalize relations with Israel.

(Of course all the political intelligence dismissed the possibility Trump would win in 2016 and have spent the last 4 years in cognitive dissidence trying to bring him down. They are going to be out of their minds when he wins again).

Regarding these deals, I think the Palestinians thought it was still business as usual. They didn’t anticipate Trump would be any different than his predecessors- despite evidence to the contrary. Now they are no longer in control of events. This is a huge shift.

As a precursor to these deals, Trump also moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem in 2018. That was a game changer as well. And drew the expected criticism from the globalists.

But the move upset the Arab world and Western allies. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called it a “slap in the face” and said the United States can no longer be regarded as an honest broker in any peace talks with Israel.

Notice how the Palestinians are equated with the “Arab world”.

Here were some reactions from the world leaders:

Arab leaders across the Middle East have warned that a unilateral American move could lead to turmoil and hamper U.S. efforts to restart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov repeated Moscow’s objection to the U.S. move. “We firmly believe that it is inappropriate to unilaterally revise the decisions of the international community in this way,” he said.

Many Arab leaders also condemned the move, with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri calling it “provocative,” and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif describing it as “a day of great shame.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a visit to London that the embassy move was “very, very unfortunate” and said it disqualified the United States from being a mediator in the Middle East peace process.

But my favorite reaction was from Shibley Talhami over at Brookings:

It is almost impossible to see the logic of the Trump administration’s expected recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and possibly moving the U.S. embassy to Israel there—before it even unveils what’s certain to be a controversial plan for Middle East peace, which will be tough enough to sell.

The White House is probably betting that, despite the noises in the Arab world against such a move, their key allies in Saudi Arabia and Egypt will limit their opposition—already publicly voiced—to lip service, as they are all interested in protecting relations with Trump over more urgent issues, such as fighting militancy and confronting Iran. It’s also betting that the Arab and Muslim public outcry will be limited, both because of efforts by their governments to contain dissent, and because administration officials may have swallowed the arguments that Arabs no longer care about Palestine, or even Jerusalem.

The fact that the White House may take a controversial step on Jerusalem now, before he even has a chance to unveil his plan, means one of two things.

The first is that his advisers live in their own bubble, reinforced by unprecedented inexperience. In fact, this is already a public fear. Despite deep partisanship on almost every issue, Americans come together on this issue: 81 percent of all Americans, including 71 percent of Republicans, prefer Trump relying on experts in his Middle East diplomacy, not on inexperienced family members and personal lawyers.

Looks to me like Trump was right and folks with closed minds like Mr. Telhami spectacularly wrong. I’ll take “inexperience” like this any day. These folks really have a high opinion of themselves don’t they? I am so enjoying Trump proving them wrong time after time.

A couple of things to wrap up.

First, what effect will this have? First it isolates the PLO, Iran, Turkey and Iran and…Russia. Oh no! I thought Trump and Putin were buddies?? Russia has been making in-roads into the ME for years and now find themselves on what may be the losing end. Very well played Mr. Trump.

Second other nations will soon be joining. The dam has been broken. It will allow others who were fearful of the Palestinians to courageously join this peace movement.

Third, Trump is the most deserving candidate for the Noble Peace Prize in my lifetime. But of course he won’t get it. Maybe he could run for the UN Ambassador once he leaves office in January 2025. Now wouldn’t THAT blow people’s minds!

Fourth, peace seems to be breaking out across the globe. Except in Democrat run American cities.

Lastly, there is the religious and spiritual aspect of this. The bible is Israel and Jerusalem centered. So whenever things are happening in the Middle East it should perk up our spiritual antenna. Already I’ve heard some biblical scholars talking about what this means on the prophetic timeline. I even heard someone say that the anti-Christ was just about to appear on the world stage. I think that is greatly pre-mature. I once read a commentary book on Revelation from the 1600’s and they were expecting him in their day too! Even Paul was expecting the second coming in his day. So it is just ridiculous to take detailed current events and connect them to items in prophecy. How many times do biblical prophetic scholars have to be wrong before we stop listening to them? All we can say is that these events are part of God’s cosmic plan to bring the prophecy in the bible to fulfillment. But we have no idea WHERE on that timeline we are. Only He does. It could be next week or a thousand years from now.

Although I will say this: isn’t there something in the Corinthians about the last TRUMP?

John Baldwin

John Baldwin is a native of Roanoke, Va located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of SW VA. He is a husband and father of three children. He has been a devout Christian since he surrendered his life to the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted the free gift of salvation in 1988. Politically John is a conservative who's political views were formed during the administration of Ronald Reagan. John's fulltime job is as an Applications Analyst (Software programming). John is also the host of two online radio shows on Victory Radio - "The Front Porch Gospel Music Show" and "Victory Talk Radio" (interview show). He is also an avid "oldies" music fan and is the DJ of the weekly "J-Bal Oldies Show” on the Doo Wop Cove.

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