Nobody is optimistic about what may happen in the region in the event U.S. President Donald Trump decides to withdraw from the “Iran Nuclear Deal” on May 12. Additionally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that Iran’s nuclear weapons plan is ongoing is considered mise en scène. However, Trump, his new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton appear to back Netanyahu’s claims. Bolton was the strongest advocate of the “chemical weapon” claim that was used as a guise for invading Iraq. It is also no secret that back then, Bolton was working in coordination with the Israeli government. Bolton, who was an anti-Iran hawk then, is now one of the highest-level names determining U.S. national security policy. The Americans, who are in favor of continuing the deal, are responding to Netanyahu’s provocative statements by saying, “The same thing happened before,” in reference to the invasion of Iraq.
Contrary to Netanyahu, who is in a tight corner because of the corruption investigation against him, the number of those in Israel who are worried Trump may break the deal is not to be taken lightly. Former Israeli Atomic Energy Commission Director Uzi Eilam said in his article in Maariv, “Netanyahu’s failure to present any evidence that Iran violated the nuclear deal, shows that Iran is abiding by this.” A group of 26 people like such as Uzi Eliam, Ami Ayalon, former head of Israel’s Secret Service Shin Bet, Gilead Sher, Yitzhak Arad and Shomo Brom, who held positions in national security, military and intelligence institutions, argue that if the U.S. withdraws from the deal, such a move would lead to dangerous results for Israel’s security. This group warns that in the case the deal is broken, Iran is going to get close to nuclear weapons and this might thus drag the region into conflict. According to Ayalon and his friends, the U.S. sticking with the deal is the best option for Israel’s security interests.
On a different note, the U.S. Embassy is moving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14. The “Jerusalem decision” had severed ties between Trump’s so-called “Middle East Peace Team” and the Palestinians under Mahmoud Abbas’s rule. Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan is currently being implemented by his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Chief Negotiator Jason Greenblatt. All three are Orthodox Jews.
Friedman was Trump’s personal lawyer and Greenblatt a legal adviser at Trump’s firm. All three support Israel’s settlement policy in West Bank. Kushner and Friedman even made financial contributions for these settlements. As a matter of fact, Friedman headed a donation collection group for the settlers. Trump’s suggestion to appoint Friedman, who argues that West Bank is a part of Israel and opposes the two-state solution, had drawn reaction. Though, former Ambassador to Israel Thomas Pickering, Dan Kurtzer, Edward Walker, James Cunningham and William Harrop, asked in the letter they sent to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs that Friedman not be approved, they could not succeed. Ambassador Friedman’s views contrasting the U.S.’s Palestine policy, were frequently rejected by the Department of State under Rex Tillerson.
These are the names Trump tasked to ensure peace between Palestine and Israel. The contents of Trump’s peace plan is yet to be revealed. Nobody knows what this plan is. Trump is expected to announce the plan after May 14. As for Kushner, he wants to solve the Palestine issue with his close friends Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed and Egyptian dictator Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Iran is the primary matter for the princes, not Palestine. Kushner trusts these princes to get Palestinians to accept the “non-peace peace.” As a result, a storm awaits the region after May 12.
