A significant cooling in US-Israel relations?

Now is to put in place a Middle Eastern security structure which can operate without substantial US military commitment, but also keeps out America's new global rival, China.

- 

FROM B1 now is to put in place a Middle Eastern security structure which can operate without substantial US military commitment, but also keeps out America's new global rival, China.

That was the logic behind the Abraham Accords, conceived by the first Trump administration and signed between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain in September 2020.

Getting Saudi Arabia to normalize its relations with Israel remains Mr Trump's key objective, and there is no question that, should this be achieved, the impact on the region as a whole will be transformative.

Notwithstanding his frequently bellicose statements, Mr Trump has also opened up channels of communication with Iran. True, these negotiations are chaotically managed by Mr Steve Witkoff, the President's golf buddy. And the administration seems to be divided over their ultimate objective, with some demanding a complete elimination of Iran's nuclear programme.

In contrast, others, including Mr Witkoff, are ready to settle for just a reduction in Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium. Still, the fact remains that the current diplomatic dialogue between Iran and the US is more extensive than it has ever been under the Biden administration.

THE ISRAEL SURPRISE Soon after he came to power in 2017, Mr Trump also undertook his first foreign tour to the Middle East, visiting Saudi Arabia, and continuing to Israel and Europe.