Trump "very serious" about Israel's concerns

Former deputy for foreign policy and international affairs at the National Security Council in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, retired Colonel, Dr. Eran Lerman, who is a senior research associate at the BESA Center, commented on the meeting between the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US President Donald Trump. "Israel's expectations are very high. After Netanyahu's very cold relations with Barack Obama, many hope for improving relations. After all, Donald Trump announced his intention to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as well as to pursue a more resolute policy towards Iran.

The time will tell whether these expectations will be justified," Lerman told Jüdische Allgemeine. According to the analyst, although Trump's intentions regarding moving the embassy to Jerusalem are serious, the new administration has no practical plan yet to implement this idea. Besides, Lerman says, the United States cannot act in this matter without regard to their close Arab allies - Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. "President Trump's meeting with Jordanian king Abdullah was one of the first," Lerman recalled, noting that the issue of the embassy move was not resolved.

In the center of the talks between Netanyahu and Trump there were three main topics: the Middle East, the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the nuclear deal with Iran. Dr. Eran Lerman admitted that he was a little surprised by Trump's change of position on the construction of Israeli settlements from the positive to the negative. "On the other hand, we know that consistency in Trump's policy is not as pronounced as of his predecessors. In this regard, his criticism of the establishment of new settlements was not so unexpected."

Regarding the prospects of relations between the US and Iran under Donald Trump, Lerman said that Trump is "very serious" about Israel's concerns. After Iran's missile test Trump introduced new sanctions against Iran. "In response, the mullahs carried out another missile test. It is doubtful that the Iranian nuclear deal will remain in force under Trump," the senior research associate at the BESA Center believes.