1. Trump is Israel’s best friend
Israel and the United States have always had good relations, but never before has there been a president in America who has moved so along with Israel’s wishes. More specifically, with that of the Israeli Prime Minister: hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a controversial decision against the sore leg of the Palestinians. Previous American presidents did not dare to take that decision.
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There was, of course, also Trump’s remarkable peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians. The plan itself is impracticable, but it has allowed Israel to establish normal ties with some Gulf states (which have always backed the Palestinians).
In Israel they are struggling with a president from the Democrats’ camp. They also always promise good relations with Israel, but they do want the Palestinians to get their own state and that Israel does not build new settlements in Palestinian territory. Trump gives Netanyahu free rein. In fact, Trump is so loved in Israel that an Israeli settlement has even been named after him.
2. You can do business with Trump
This is one of the most remarkable things Trump has managed to achieve in the White House in recent years: a deal between Israel and a number of Arab Gulf states. The situation has always been that the Gulf states did not recognize Israel as a state. In reality, there was cooperation, for example in the field of Israeli espionage software, which was very popular in the authoritarian Gulf states.
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But under pressure from Trump, relations have not only been normalized, but also formalized: the United Arab Emirates recognizes Israel, flights and cargo ships are now going back and forth, and both countries have pledged to open embassies. Little Bahrain recently did the same. You can do business with Trump, some in the Middle East think.
3. Trump is withdrawing his troops
Even Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad will be concerned if a Democrat enters the White House. The US military has a foothold in the north of the country, but Trump announced that he wants to return all US troops from the Middle East back home, to the delight of the Syrian president: Assad sees the Americans as an occupation force.
With the Americans withdrawing from Syria under Trump, Assad has less to worry about about US retaliation for the war crimes he committed. Assad even called Trump the best and most transparent president of the United States ever.
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In Iraq and Afghanistan, too, the Americans are preparing for at least partial withdrawal from the army. Welcome news to, for example, the Taliban in Afghanistan, Iraqi militias and jihadist movements. They see the Americans as the great enemy and the fewer troops the enemy has in the country, the better. The US army generals want the US to stay longer and with more manpower in the Middle East, but Trump does not or hardly listen to his generals.
4. Trump makes friends with sanctions against Iran
The previous president of the United States, Barack Obama, overhauled the long-standing sanctions policy against Iran: he slowly tried to establish relations with the country in the hope that change would occur. It came to a historic agreement, the Irandeal. Iran would refrain from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions. There was a thaw in the relationship between Iran and the West.
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Trump put a stop to that. He unilaterally canceled the nuclear deal and instituted the strictest sanctions policy ever. The country is now politically, economically and militarily isolated again. That’s exactly what countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel are looking for. They see Iran as the nemesis, and are fighting wars in the region to limit Iranian influence as much as possible. So part of the Middle East is very happy with Trump’s sanctions policy against Iran.
5. Trump is not fussy about human rights
Under Trump, the moral authority of the Americans has been severely damaged. Not so long ago, human rights violations in the Arab world could often count on a sharp condemnation from the United States, however hypocritical that may sometimes sound.
Trump never has a raised finger and authoritarian leaders in the Middle East are very happy about that. Whether it is the inhumane treatment of prisoners in Egypt, the criminal war that Saudi Arabia is fighting in Yemen, the gagging of the opposition in Turkey or the beheading of journalists: Trump is not concerned about it. Relations with Egypt and Saudi Arabia are particularly good. Turkish President Erdogan is also not bothered by Trump.
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