by Zvi Bar’el at Haaretz
Trump, diverging from Netanyahu’s strategy, is hinting that the Gaza conflict may have an expiration date, paving the way for a rebuild led by Arab states unwilling to wait much longer. Saudi Arabia is expected to play a quiet but pivotal role
Before President Trump’s meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron, who traveled to Egypt on a special visit, took part in a three-way telephone conversation between his host, Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
Official French and Egyptian statements asserted that the talks had revolved around the situation in Gaza, only mentioning the urgent need to introduce humanitarian aid and a total rejection of transfer plans for Gaza’s inhabitants.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II, left, embraces French President Emmanuel Macron, center, as Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stands by before their trilateral Gaza summit in Cairo on Monday.Credit: Benoit Tessier/AFP
However, just a few hours later, at a meeting with journalists, Trump heralded that the war would, in fact, end at some point: “That won’t be in the too-distant future.”
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It’s possible that Trump heard more details of Macron, al-Sissi and Abdullah’s meeting, which made him decide that Netanyahu’s strategy, which is to prolong the war for as long as necessary, would have an expiration date that wouldn’t be determined by Netanyahu.
The next morning,…