Trump’s ‘New Middle East’ is a Mirage
Morocco, Qatar not likely to fall in line with Israel's Anti-Iran Alliance
President Donald J. Trump had better lower his expectation that additional Arab countries will follow the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in normalizing relations with Israel, a historic development formalized Monday at a White House ceremony that the president hailed as “the dawn of a new Middle East.”
Not so fast. Putting aside for a moment that Israel and Iran, not to mention the Palestinians, remain at knife’s edges, other Arab regimes aren’t jumping at what amounts to a U.S.-backed alliance of Israel and moderate Gulf and Arab states. The point of the new arrangement is to challenge Iran’s dominance over the region.
For starters, Morocco and Qatar have both flatly stated they will not normalize relations with Israel before Jerusalem and the Palestinians resolve their long-standing conflict.
As for Morocco, it appears Trump is not taking no for an answer.
Richard Grenell, Trump’s fiery former ambassador to Germany and more recently special envoy for Serbia and Kosovo, is racing to R…
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