There were no apparent surprises at the United Nations General Assembly meeting on the Middle East this year. Not in speeches delivered there, not in press conferences and not in talks held on its sidelines. However, this year’s session could actually point to a surprising shift in the relationship among the sides of the linchpin triangle consisting of the US administration, the government of Israel and the PLO leadership.

Ostensibly, all the players adhered to the roles in which they were cast for this annual performance. US President Donald Trump spoke about resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his nonbinding role as a sideline observer. He “likes” the two-state solution, he told reporters after his Sept. 26 meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, only to revert to an even less binding commitment on the following day to support any solution the two sides favor. While Trump did not go back on his intention to present what he calls “the ultimate” Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, he is unwilling to commit to the timing of its unveiling — maybe in two months, maybe in three, maybe in four. In any case, according to Trump, Israel was dealt a better hand when he moved the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem this past May, and will have to compensate the Palestinians within the framework of this long-gestating deal.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his accusations that Israel was violating its agreements with the Palestinians. He claimed the United States had proven it could not be an honest broker between the sides and that the Palestinians could not accept its involvement unless it takes place within a broader framework of an international conference with the permanent members of the UN Security Council and with other participants. He repeated his opposition to any form of violence.

As for Netanyahu, he once again presented the Iranian threat, complete with his usual show-and-tell presentation, and did not hesitate to share with those in the half-empty UNGA hall sensitive intelligence information about a secret Iranian warehouse containing nuclear development equipment. Ironically, a US intelligence source told Reuters after the speech that the Americans know all about the warehouse and it does not contain any such equipment. Netanyahu only referred to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute in an off-handed manner, saying the bad 2015 nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran led to closer Israeli cooperation with some Arab states, with which he hoped to achieve peace — as he hopes to do with the Palestinians. That was all.