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The newly confirmed President-elect of the United States, Donald Trumpcould be a key point for put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, which has been going on for more than a year.

In his first speech yesterday after the US election results, Trump emphasized that his plans include ending wars:

I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars

Meanwhile, Netanyahu, his main ally in the Middle East and one of the first to congratulate him on his victory, maintains open fronts in Gaza and Lebanonand ongoing tensions with Iran-backed militias from Yemen, Iraq and Syria.

“I think Trump will have more power over Netanyahu. Biden was weak, he said one thing and did another. Trump will not allow himself to be manipulated by anyone, not even Netanyahu. For Trump, prolonging the war is not an option,” he said. EFE Palestinian analyst and director of the Jerusalem Legal Aid Center Issam Arouri.

In his conversations during the election campaign, which included a meeting at Mar-a-Lago between Trump and Netanyahu during the latter’s visit to the United States in July, the American would have made it clear to the prime minister that He wanted the war in Gaza to be over by the time he took office.at the end of January, according to Jewish media.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Aviv Bushinsky’s chief of staff, Netanyahu had an easier time standing up to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

The rift between Netanyahu and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris became apparent when she decided to sit out her State of the Union speech in July, while “the opposite happened with Trump: there is a closer connection.” – said Bushinsky.

“It will be very difficult for Netanyahu to refuse Trump. “Israel expects him to support its policies towards Hamas and Iran, but if Trump wants to end the wars, Netanyahu will not be so easy to resist,” he added.

However, Netanyahu may find leeway with Trump in his bid to maintain security control of the Gaza Strip, colonize the north of the strip or annex the West Bank, which are clear goals of his far-right government partners that the Biden administration opposes.

Trump’s first term (2016-2020) has already left its mark on the region, especially for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA): it recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and cut funding for the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), he said. supported settlement expansion in the West Bank and promoted the Abraham Accords.

Despite this precedent, PNP President Mahmoud Abbas congratulated Donald Trump on his re-election, expressed confidence that he would “support the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people,” and emphasized his desire to work with him for “peace and security.” “in the region”

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According to a report from Brown University’s Costs of War Project, the United States has spent a record $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since the start of the Gaza war, escalating the conflict throughout the Middle East.

“Behind Trump’s desire to end the war is his economic ambitions, as he promised Americans a better economy,” Aruri said.

Moreover, he believed that the president-elect was “not interested in creating an image as a military man”; but also to demonstrate that he has an “alternative policy” by applying pressure in two ways: returning hostages and seeking a ceasefire for several months “to create the feeling that everything can be resolved.”

In fact, independent Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti believed that the Democrats’ electoral defeat had a lot to do with the loss of young and progressive voters who punished them for their “absolute support for Israel and their failure to contain Netanyahu.”

In turn, Israeli expert Avi Melamed, a former intelligence officer, suggested that Trump’s election victory could have a direct deterrent effect on Iran, which has promised retaliation for the October 26 Israeli attack.

“For Tehran, avoiding direct confrontation with Israel can be seen not as weakness, but as a strategic gesture to build trust with the new Trump administration,” he said.

EFE