Trump makes no promises during Bethlehem whistle-stop
US President Donald Trump hit most of the right notes on his visit to Palestine, but what Palestinians need from a peace process is likely not on Trump’s agenda.
The extravagant reception that US President Donald Trump found in Saudi Arabia and the gigantic military and trade deals signed there have left many observers confused as to how the trip will affect the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
By all measures, Trump has hit most of the right notes. He met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, visited the Palestinian city of Bethlehem and spoke repeatedly about peace.
Many Palestinians felt that the May 20 reception in Riyadh will not likely translate into an effective US push toward peace. One senior Palestinian official who asked not to be named called it nothing more than a Hollywood-style production. “It is obvious that so much effort has gone into the production aspects of the visit as to render both inconvenient and untimely any serious discussion on the question of Palestine,” the official told Al-Monitor.
A veteran Palestinian editor working in the Gulf also fails to see any direct connection between Trump’s visit and solving the Palestinian problem. Nabeel Khatib, the managing editor of the pro-Saudi Al Arabiya news station, told Al-Monitor, “I think the military deal was driven primarily by concerns regarding Iran’s military ambitions and Saudi attempts to ‘nationalize’ the military industry by stepping up a policy whereby a large portion of the deal (about 50%) will be invested inside Saudi Arabia,” he said.
