Before Donald Trump won the presidency, Democratic foreign policy circles hummed with talk that an outgoing President Barack Obama could take a last stab at peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. There also was a strong expectation that Obama would push hard for Congress to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
But now that they're on the verge of power, Trump aides say Obama shouldn't even think about taking such steps.
"On big, transformative issues where President Obama and President-elect Trump are not in alignment, I don’t think it’s in keeping with the spirit of the transition ... to try to push through agenda items that are contrary to the president-elect’s positions," a Trump national security adviser told POLITICO on Thursday. "It's not going to be just counterproductive, but it will also send mixed messages."
Presidential transitions are often fraught, messy affairs, especially when White House control is switching from one political party to another. (Some Clinton administration officials, famously, took the "w" off their keyboards as the Bush team was coming aboard.) Outgoing presidents try to lock down their policies however they can, whether through executive orders, regulations or legislation. Incoming administrations try to lay the groundwork for what they want to do without declaring open war on the people they are replacing.
That includes efforts to bring peace to the Israelis and Palestinians — even if those initiatives are symbolic at best. Trump, for one, has made it very clear he will support Israel and its preferences. A post-election statement by Trump's advisers on Israel said, "A two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians appears impossible as long as the Palestinians are unwilling to renounce violence against Israel or recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state."
Israel staunchly opposes any move by Obama to secure a U.N. Security Council resolution seen as hostile to Israeli interests — especially if he asked other world powers to embrace U.S.-drafted parameters for a two-state solution. It's a very fragile time, and, according to an Israeli official, any such move would represent a "dagger in the heart" of the peace process — perhaps forever.
The official, who asked not to be identified, said that Israel is especially concerned that Obama would make such a move in the event that Trump won the election.
Obama administration officials likely will do everything they can to maintain the integrity of the Iran nuclear deal, but that is one area in which Trump can singlehandedly undermine all of their efforts. The deal relies on a U.S. president waiving certain sanctions on Iran as long as the country avoids pursuing nuclear weapons. Trump, who went from saying he'd consider renegotiating a deal to promising to dismantle it, could simply reimpose sanctions and scuttle the deal.
(politico.com)
