Millions of Palestinians remain in a stateless plight

FLORIDA There is nothing Netanyahu would like better than armed action as he is campaigning for re-election as a wartime prime minister. This diverts attention from his failure to predict and interdict Hamas 2023 attack on Israel as well as from his trials for corruption

- Michael Jansen, Political Correspondent

People walk past buildings of the damaged Islamic University in Gaza City on Saturday.

(Agence France-Presse)

The regional portents for the new year may have been given a hit by last Monday's meeting at Mara-Largo in Florida between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The encounter came at a time the approval rate for both men had sunk below 50 per cent. While Trump claimed this was 60 per cent, pollsters fixed it at 44.1 per cent; Netanyahu's rating was even lower at 41 per cent.

The Israeli leader played Trump's longing for awards by conferring on him Israel’s chief cultural honour, the Israel Prize, “for his tremendous contributions to Israel and the Jewish people.” This was the first time the prize has been offered to a non-Israeli. It, of course, does not make up for Trump's bitter disappointment over failing to secure the Nobel Peace Prize, but assuages his loss to a certain extent.