American Middle East policy experts believe that US President Donald Trump is seeking to bring Sunni Arab states, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, into his emerging framework for a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, according to a report by the New York Times.
According to the report, Trump's approach dovetails with that of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who believes a regional framework for peace may succeed in light of the Palestinian Authority's refusal to engage in bilateral negotiations without preconditions.
President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu are scheduled to meet for the first time since Trump took office next week.
However, the report also states that Trump has listened to requests from the leaders of the Sunni states not to engage in pro-Israel moves which could "make life harder" for them, such as moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“There are some quite interesting ideas circulating on the potential for U.S.-Israeli-Arab discussions on regional security in which Israeli-Palestinian issues would play a significant role,” said Robert Satloff, the executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “I don’t know if this is going to ripen by next week, but this stuff is out there.”
Netanyahu believes that Israel's closer relations with the Sunni states in recent years in light of the threats posed by the Ayatollah's regime in Iran and the ISIS terrorist organization, those states would be more willing to contribute to a regional peace settlement than in the past. READ MORE
