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t the Sharm el-Sheikh summit on October 13, which was dedicated to his own glorification, Donald Trump came face-to-face with a Middle Eastern reality he had not encountered directly since visiting Bethlehem in May 2017 at the beginning of his first term: a Palestinian. That reality was embodied in a particularly striking way, as it was the president of a moribund Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, soon to be 90 years old, who had been denied a visa by the United States one month earlier for the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York. A man from the past and who will remain in it, having become a symbol of his people's despair.
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At Sharm el-Sheikh, nations back Trump's plan for Gaza's future
The few words exchanged by the pair during a photo op meant to capture Trump's triumph – after securing the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners and bringing an end to the bombings in the enclave – will hardly make up for lost time. Nor will they restore balance to the US's overwhelmingly pro-Israel diplomacy, a long-standing bipartisan tendency only amplified by Trump. Family ties, real estate obsessions and geopolitical interests have become entangled there in open disregard for norms, as shown by the surreal speech Trump delivered on October 13 before the Knesset, Israel's parliament.
