Trump 2.0 appointees embolden Israel in Mid-East moves

Feeling less pressure, Netanyahu could push to annex Palestinian lands

- Jonathan Eyal

LONDON - Across the Middle East, the consensus is that Donald Trump's electoral victory is good news for Israel, bad news for the Palestinians, and a terrible omen for Iran.

Yet, beyond this very broad perspective, much uncertainty persists around the Trump administration's Middle East policies.

So, everywhere in the region, leaders rush to advertise their demands in the vague hope that they may influence or impress the Trump team.

Legally, US President Joe Biden's administration remains fully in charge until Jan 20, 2025, when Trump and his ministers are formally sworn in.

In practice, however, Trump's electoral victory has already fatally undermined the credibility of President Biden's team and its ability to deal with the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, the two conflicts Mr Biden has pledged to end before he leaves the White House.

In early October, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin issued Israel with an ultimatum, giving the government one month to restore adequate humanitarian supplies to the Palestinians in besieged Gaza or risk restrictions on deliveries of American weapons.

In keeping with his usual tactics, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent weeks simply ignoring the US notice and then offered a tiny concession at the very last moment: A new border crossing from Israel into the Gaza Strip was opened to humanitarian convoys on Nov 12, just 24 hours before the scheduled expiry of the US ultimatum.

The amount of daily aid now getting through is barely half the 350 aid trucks the US claims are necessary to keep the people of Gaza adequately fed.

Nonetheless, the Biden administration refrained from enforcing penalties, recognising that any punitive measures would likely be reversed by the incoming Trump administration.