Trump was the right man at the right time to make a deal

Go to Kosovo today, and among men in their mid-twenties, you will find a disproportionate number of them named Tonibler.

- JON SOPEL

It isn't a traditional Slavic name, but after the vital role that Tony Blair played in prosecuting the war against the Yugoslav leader, Slobodan Milosevic, in 1999, a new generation was called “Tonibler”.

What chance is there that a new generation of children born in Gaza and Israel in the next few months and years will bear that most un-Levantine name, “Donald”?

I can think of one person who would feel the warmest of warm glows if that were to come to pass. And let’s give Donald Trump his due: his unconventional methods of diplomacy, his force of personality, his browbeating of Benjamin Netanyahu, have got us to the point where we are today.

Donald Trump is having a lovely, warm, soapy bath in the narrative that he is the peacemaker and dealmaker extraordinaire. Fair enough; he should be revelling in this moment. But the importance of timing in politics can’t be overestimated. If you look at the deal that Trump has strong-armed Israel into signing up to, it is not so different from the one that Joe Biden put on the table a year ago. Why has Trump succeeded where Biden failed? Yes, his personality. But also timing.