Trump and Israel

 

Donald Trump is an idiot.  But he's not the idiot that the lame-stream media present him to be.  He's a talented grifter who shamelessly plays the game.  He also knows how to bully people.  But he's also got something of a messiah complex.  Whatever the case, his ego and his narcissism would not allow him to accept the persecution he endured from the "intelligence" agencies and the FBI with that whole "Russia-gate" nonsense; nor would they allow him to accept electoral defeat.  I think his first election victory surprised him and he was willing to "play nice" with the "Deep State" because he hadn't really thought about actually challenging them.  And for his troubles he got subjected to the Russiagate witch-hunt that some progressives still stupidly insist was about something real.

With his re-election Trump is out to settle scores. Many of Trumps actions upon assuming control this time around have been the egregious, illegal, fascist-dictatorship type.  (The dangerous stuff that the Democrats blathered about but which didn't compel them to put up a challenger other than the senile Biden or which made Biden think he should stop supporting Israel's genocide of the Palestinians even though it was hurting his re-election chances.)  But some of what Trump is doing is settling scores.  Settling scores with politicians and bureaucrats who abused their powers in their travesty of a political harrassment campaign against him.

I think someof the same stuff is going on with Trump, Israel and Hamas.   I don't know.  Something about how he bossed Israel's Naziyahoo into a cease-fire.  Something about how he says anything he wants to in public and will do something else long-term.  What is going on?  Trump has approved a $3-billion weapons deal for Israel but apparently they won't get anything until 2026.  Trump is talking directly with Hamas.  Which Netanyahu and the Israelis do not like.  Trump admits to taking money from US-American zionists (like the Adelsons) and taking their advice.  His vile son-in-law Jared Kushner is a Jewish zionist who he made a Special Envoy to the Middle East where he tried to advance his own self-serving, ethnic cleansing proposal.  When the war criminal Pestilence Naziyahoo visited Washington to meet Trump, Trump shamelessly kissed his ass.  (Which drove Trump's legions of antisemitic followers crazy no doubt.)

Trump isn't crazy and stupid the way that his Democratic opponents say that he his.  He has cunning and he has long-term goals.  But he also has little in the way of impulse control.  He has a habit of saying anything he wants, even if it contradicts what he just said previously, because he's a bully who doesn't have to be consistent.  Plus, I think he naturally "flood the zone with shit" that throws everyone off balance, so that people don't know what he's really planning on doing.  So I don't think that Trump wants to help the Palestinians and go down in history as the glorious peace maker.  But what IS he doing?

It was thinking about this question that made me follow this headline from The Palestine Chronicle: "What Truly Lies Behind Trump's Direct Negotiation With Hamas?"

Since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in January, it would be an understatement to say America’s West Asia policy has been confusing, specifically as it pertains to Gaza. 

What we may be seeing, is Washington’s attempt to save Israel from itself. At least, this is the only way to make sense of the US holding direct negotiations with Hamas for the first time ever.

...

Donald Trump’s administration, unlike that of his predecessor, has a lot of political capital amongst Israelis, especially the far-right of the political spectrum there and the President’s entire cabinet is staffed with hardline right wing Zionists. Yet, the most pro-Israeli administration in US history is now negotiating with Hamas, so what is happening here?

...

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been making a steady stream of outrageous comments that have pleased Netanyahu’s coalition partners, who believe that the American President’s rhetoric could translate into a US-backed effort to ethnically cleanse Gaza. This has bought Netanyahu time and makes him appear as if he is receiving considerable backing from Washington.

In order to make sense of this, we must first put aside the rhetoric and the pledges made by Trump, that appear implausible for him to follow through on, especially considering the threats made against Hamas to release all Israeli captives by specific deadlines, which ended up being bluffs.

...

We see these critical voices in disagreement with Netanyahu from every sector, including the Mossad, Shin Bet, private corporations, the army and political opposition. Even former Israeli Prime Ministers such as Ehud Olmert have warned of Israel’s impending collapse if it continues on its current unhinged trajectory.

An important point to note is that Zionist power does not only lie in Israel, but also in the United States, where there are also many concerned Zionists who seek to save the Israeli regime from its current predicament. 

...

If the US is indeed trying to find a solution independent of the Netanyahu-run government, essentially forcing a solution upon it, it would make sense of all the contradictory statements and moves made by the Trump administration. On the one hand, the US cannot override Netanyahu, so it must make moves to support him publicly, but if it is truly working to save Israel from its current path, it will have to force its hand while making it seem as if everything was actually Netanyahu’s idea.

I think that this analysis is the most convincing.  Trump is saying all sorts of pro-Naziyahoo stuff in public while manouevering behind the scenes to get the remaining hostages freed and end this debilitating conflict for Israel without seeming to be challenging or under-cutting Naziyahoo.   How anything Trump is trying to do would benefit the Palestinians in even the slightest way is difficult to discern.  This might be where Trump's mental limitations obstruct his ambitions.

What Truly Lies Behind Trump's Direct Negotiations With Hamas? - Analysis - Palestine Chronicle