Trump played the "Middle East card" for the election, Palestine became a victim

　　Xinhua News Agency, Gaza, September 9 -

　　Xinhua News Agency reporter Xiong Sihao

　　The United States has recently moved frequently in the Middle East, playing several "Middle East cards" one after another.

In addition to bringing together the UAE and Israel to reach an agreement on the normalization of relations, the United States is also trying to persuade more Arab countries to change their attitude towards Israel.

Analysts pointed out that in order to boost the election situation, the Trump administration disregarded Palestinian interests, making Palestine a victim of the US presidential election, and the Palestinian-Israeli issue was gradually marginalized.

　　With the mediation of the United States, Israel and the UAE reached an agreement on August 13, agreeing to achieve full normalization of relations, and plans to formally sign this agreement at the White House on September 15.

After U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo visited Israel, Sudan, Bahrain, UAE and Oman in late August, O'Brien, Assistant to the U.S. President for National Security Affairs, and Kushner, Senior Advisor to the U.S. President, visited Israel and the UAE one after another.

　　Analysts believe that the Trump team's "Middle East card" has one stone and three birds.

First, package Trump as a leader who is good at facilitating a "peace agreement" in order to reverse the Trump administration’s ineffective response to the new crown epidemic; second, create a regional "anti-Iran alliance" involving Arab countries and Israel to contain Iran Influence in the Middle East; third, hope to use the Trump administration’s pro-Israel Middle East policy to influence some American voters in Israel.

　　In response to the normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel and a series of cooperation, Erekat, Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), recently pointed out that Palestine has become a "victim of Trump's campaign ambitions."

Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said that in order to serve Trump's re-election campaign, Trump and his team are eager to define the agreement between Israel and the UAE as "a historic achievement."

　　The "Middle East card" recently played by the Trump team failed to achieve its expected effect.

Although most Arab countries want to unite with Israel to counter the pressure from Iran, they are concerned about the issue of promoting the normalization of relations with Israel, taking into account the opposition of the domestic people.

　　Pompeo’s five-nation trip to the Middle East successively “bumped nails” in Sudan, Bahrain and Oman. The three countries all hinted at rejecting Pompeo’s proposal to normalize relations with Israel as soon as possible.

The Sudanese Transitional Government stated that it was “not authorized” to make a decision to normalize relations with Israel, because the transitional government’s responsibilities are limited to managing the transitional process before the elections; Bahrain emphasized that the “Arab Peace Initiative” proposed in 2002 should be adhered to. The proposal put forward the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in exchange for the normalization of relations with Israel; Oman has not publicly stated its position on the normalization of relations with Israel.

　　Moroccan Prime Minister Osmani refused to normalize relations with Israel for violating the rights of the Palestinian people.

King Salman of Saudi Arabia said in a telephone conversation with Trump recently that Saudi Arabia will continue to work for "a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue."

　　International public opinion pointed out that the Trump administration has drastically adjusted its Middle East policy driven by electoral interests, urged the normalization of relations between Arab countries and Israel, and improved Israel's long-term tense geopolitical environment in the Middle East, but at the same time it has caused Palestinian interests to become victims.

The way forward for the situation in the Middle East is still unknown.