Trump, the most pro-Israel president in American history

Qods News Agency- During his four years in office, Donald Trump made 12 important decisions in support of the Zionist regime, which made him one of the most hated figures among American presidents in the eyes of the Palestinians.

In August 2019, President Donald Trump declared himself “history’s most pro-Israel U.S. president.” He also characterised the Democrats as radicals seeking to destroy the special relationship between the US and Israel. “If you vote for a Democrat”, he said, “you are very, very disloyal to Israel and to the Jewish people.” Prominent American Jewish leaders, mainly Democrats, protested his rebuke.

In January 2020, Zionist regime’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Trump as “the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House.”

A spring 2019 global survey by the Pew Research Center found that Israel was the only country among 33 where a majority of people (55%) approved of Trump’s policies; and 71% expressed confidence in his “world leadership.”

Trump has reversed long-standing US policies on several critical security, diplomatic and political issues to Israel’s favour. These include the Iran nuclear accord, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, treatment of Israel at the UN and the status of Al-Quds and the Golan Heights.

Military Aid and Security Collaboration

Despite serious disagreements between Obama and Netanyahu over Iran and other issues, in September 2016 they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) committing $3.8 billion annually for military aid to Israel in the next 10 years.

The term ‘aid’ in the context of US-Israeli defence relations is somewhat misleading. The more accurate term would be ‘investment’

The US military also annually conducts highly productive military exercises with the Israeli army, and the Trump administration has continued and strengthened the close US-Israel security collaboration.

The Golan Heights

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War. Many American mediation efforts failed to achieve peace based on an Israeli withdrawal from the Heights in return for peace and security arrangements. In December 1981, Israel annexed the area. The US criticised the action because it considered the Heights to be Syrian occupied territory and thought it should be kept as an asset for future peace negotiations.

On 25 March 2019, Trump signed a proclamation stating that “the United States recognizes that the Golan Heights are part of the State of Israel.”    

Moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem

Successive American presidents have promised to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (Al-Quds). In October 1995, the US Congress instructed the president to move the Embassy to Jerusalem by May 1999. Since then, however, presidents signed a waiver for “national security” considerations.

In June 2017, the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution (90-0) that reaffirmed the 1995 Act and called upon the President to implement it. Six months later, Trump recognised Al-Quds as Israel's capital and moved the Embassy from Tel Aviv.

The move was controversial because Al-Quds was supposed to be an issue to be negotiated with the Palestinians. The Embassy, however, was moved to West Al-Quds, a part of Al-Quds of which no one questions Israel's sovereignty; it is the status of East Al-Quds that is contentious and requires negotiation.   

By moving the Embassy to Al-Quds Trump has corrected a historical diplomatic anomaly, since every sovereign country has the right to determine where to locate its capital

The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

Trump said that all previous plans to settle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have failed and therefore a radically different approach was needed. The move of the Embassy was part of this new approach.

Unlike Obama, Trump blamed the Palestinians for the impasse in the negotiations with Israel and adopted a ‘business approach’ to resolving the conflict. He used a combination of sticks and carrots to influence the Palestinian behaviour and called his own peace plan “the deal of the century.”

Trump cut the annual US aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) – $500 million – claiming that its purpose had been to facilitate a peace process. Since the Palestinians refused to negotiate and criticised him on an aggressive and personal level, the justification for helping them had ceased. Trump closed the PLO office in Washington, claiming that after the establishment of the PA in 1995, there was no need for such a Palestinian mission.

Trump has rejected Obama’s claim that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal and the main obstacle to peace

Additionally, Trump cut the annual US contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinians ($250-400 million), claiming that UNRWA is corrupt, perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem, and that its schools are engendering hostility toward Israel and Jews.

Trump rejected Obama's claim that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal and the main obstacle to peace. He was especially offended by a resolution initiated by Obama at the UN Security Council in December 2016, when Trump was already president-elect.

The UN resolution (2334) stated that Israel's settlement activity constituted a “flagrant violation” of international law and had “no legal validity.” On 18 November 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared, “the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not, per se, inconsistent with international law.”                     

Trump's so-called Peace Plan 

The plan included two parts, economic and political. Due to recurrent elections in Israel, the economic part was presented first at a workshop held in Bahrain in June 2019, mainly with businessmen.

The idea was to present to the Palestinians the potential benefits of peace through a comprehensive package of economic development in the West Bank, Gaza and countries such as Jordan and Egypt, worth about $50 billion. The political aspect was presented in January 2020 at the White House.

The plan offered the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in Gaza and over 70% of the West Bank, plus territorial compensation in Israel itself, and a capital on the outskirts of East Jerusalem. The Palestinians would relinquish their demand for the ‘right of return’ of refugees to Israel. Israel would annex the large Jewish settlement blocks in the West Bank and would receive significant security arrangements and political assurances.   

The deal was considered too pro-Israel. Indeed, Israel accepted it but the Palestinians vigorously rejected it. Several Arab countries urged the Palestinians to accept the plan as a basis for negotiations. The European Union, as well as many commentators, in particular condemned the Israeli annexation article and opined that the deal was impracticable.

Biased international organizations

Israel has been the single most discriminated-against state at the UN. From 2012 through 2019, the UN General Assembly had adopted a total of 202 resolutions criticising countries. Israel was the subject of 163 of those, accounting for 81% of all resolutions. Trump's UN ambassador Nikki Haley severely criticised the UN for its numerous one-sided anti-Israeli resolutions.

Trump also sided with Israel against the plan of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank. The ICC is also planning to investigate the US for war crimes in Afghanistan, and Trump's response was swift and harsh.

Joe Biden, the 2020 presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, is a moderate and has a good record on Israel. Yet, he served as Obama's Vice President and is under pressure from the growing power and influence of the radical-left wing of his party to adopt anti-Israeli policies, especially on the critical issues of the Iran nuclear deal, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and military aid.

Despite reservations about Trump's personality, unpresidential behaviour and unpredictability, given his many positive policies and actions on Israel's critical concerns, coupled with the Democratic tilt to the radical left, it seems that most Israeli representatives and most of the public would like to see him win a second term.

Normalization deal with Israel

US President Donald Trump presided over the signing of normalization diplomatic ties between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain on September 2020.