No one forced their military or political foe to do anything against their will. Rather, the trigger that made the end of the war possible was Netanyahu trampling on the Trump-Qatari relationship
At last there seems to be a greater acceptance among certain Arab nations that Hamas terror is bad not only for Israelis but also very harmful for the civilian populations in Gaza. It would seem that the behavior of Hamas is based on political reasons and not on the religious ones that it claims. In either case there has been much suffering from the vital need to stop it withholding the hostages it captured during the start of this present war, and with that the hoped for progress of a more complete cease-fire to be followed by the peaceful relationships between both sides of this 2-year battle.
You are absolutely spot-on! Everything is transactional and the goal is always to enrich Trump and his family.
The attack on Qatar threatened the possibility of so many “deals” that, for once, some bit of good might actually come from his self-serving action, (though clearly that was not his concern).
You forgot the $400 million jet Trump got from the Qataris! I agree with you that, contrary to his "America first" tag line, it's always his own personal interests that motivate his actions.
Is Trump actually more transactional than other Presidents or is he just more honest about it? Perhaps what is different about Trump js that he is engaging in more graft with the Arab world instead of solely with Zionists. It remains to be seen if Trump will actually enforce a true ceasefire on Israel. So far Israel has slowed down their rate of murdering Palestinians but has refused to stop completely.
Yes, I do think he is measurably more transactional than previous presidents, but he is also no less relational. By that I mean that he likely cares about his relationship with the Qataris in a way that goes beyond the financial transactions. Our brains can't handle the mental load of calculating material costs and benefits every time we interact with others, so we have to rely on our emotions.
You are right regarding what Trump does going forward. His attention span may not be long enough to keep up the pressure, although other forces may come into play like the growing distaste in Israel for continuing the war. Reserve call-ups have been canceled en masse, so there is definitely a negative feedback loop that has kicked in
We also don't know how the system is going to change in Gaza. A civil war could erupt between Hamas and the various criminal families in Gaza, some of whom were armed and supported by Israel during the war.
So, we are far from out of the woods, but we are better off than we were a week ago. I enjoy the excitement of Gazan children who have posted hopeful messages on Instagram.
I missed the difference of transactional vs relational in your piece when I read it the first time. Generally speaking transactional and relational are seen as being on opposite ends of a spectrum. I'm a little confused about your argument here. Are you saying Trump is both highly transactional and highly relational? Does he break the spectrum somehow? The common talking points on the left are about how transactional he is (as seen in other comments on your post) and this is my default perspective on him. It seems like there is more to figure out here.
It is also important to remember that while Trump might not like Netanyahu he does have strong relationships with many members of the Zionist billionaire club in America. Adelson, Ackman, Ellison et all aren't going anywhere and their influence over Trump counters the Arab. So far it seems like they hold more sway, although perhaps that will change.
Yes. Less people are being killed and that is a good thing.
It is good to hear that the number of reservists being called up has gone down. Didn't that happen with the previous ceasefire though? Are there any polls you can share about the desire to continue having gone down in Israel? I haven't seen anything about that.
My point about transactional and relational is that we are always a little of both. It's not a binary choice. If you are familiar with "parts therapy" that concept is a central component.
I haven't seen any polls since the cease-fire kicked in, but even before it not only did a majority of Israeli Jews support ending the war but even a plurality of right-wing Jews. I would expect that support to be even higher should a new poll emerge.
Can you share those polls? The only polls I have seen are the ones that show overwhelming support for ethnic cleansing and genocide. It would be good to see contravening polls.
Key passage: "Asked if Israel should agree to a deal that would release all hostages, end hostilities, and see the IDF pull out of Gaza, 64.5% said it should. Among Jewish Israelis, 62% back such a deal, while 81% of Arab Israelis support it. There were 6.5% of respondents who said they don’t know. On the political left, 92% favor such a deal, in the center 77%, while on the right, 47% were in favor compared to 44% who were opposed."
And they weren't asking about Israel staying in parts of Gaza after a cease-fire but actually pulling out.
That is an interesting poll as it shows support for expanding the fighting and for pulling out in order to get the hostages out. It seems like the primary focus for many is the Israeli hostages. It would be instructive to see a new round of polling now to see where public opinion is at this point. I have seen articles pointing to Netanyahu having record high approval ratings.
At last there seems to be a greater acceptance among certain Arab nations that Hamas terror is bad not only for Israelis but also very harmful for the civilian populations in Gaza. It would seem that the behavior of Hamas is based on political reasons and not on the religious ones that it claims. In either case there has been much suffering from the vital need to stop it withholding the hostages it captured during the start of this present war, and with that the hoped for progress of a more complete cease-fire to be followed by the peaceful relationships between both sides of this 2-year battle.
I think that is an excellent point and worth noting that Hamas was also impacted by its relationship with its Arab allies
Lets hope that its influence will spread and eventually reach Iran and Yemen too!
You are absolutely spot-on! Everything is transactional and the goal is always to enrich Trump and his family.
The attack on Qatar threatened the possibility of so many “deals” that, for once, some bit of good might actually come from his self-serving action, (though clearly that was not his concern).
Thank you for sharing!
You forgot the $400 million jet Trump got from the Qataris! I agree with you that, contrary to his "America first" tag line, it's always his own personal interests that motivate his actions.
Indeed!
https://x.com/JacobMagid/status/1981414913605320929?s=19
A senior Trump administration figure tells @timesofisrael "the Israelis can't treat us like we're Joe Biden."
nicely put.
Is Trump actually more transactional than other Presidents or is he just more honest about it? Perhaps what is different about Trump js that he is engaging in more graft with the Arab world instead of solely with Zionists. It remains to be seen if Trump will actually enforce a true ceasefire on Israel. So far Israel has slowed down their rate of murdering Palestinians but has refused to stop completely.
Yes, I do think he is measurably more transactional than previous presidents, but he is also no less relational. By that I mean that he likely cares about his relationship with the Qataris in a way that goes beyond the financial transactions. Our brains can't handle the mental load of calculating material costs and benefits every time we interact with others, so we have to rely on our emotions.
You are right regarding what Trump does going forward. His attention span may not be long enough to keep up the pressure, although other forces may come into play like the growing distaste in Israel for continuing the war. Reserve call-ups have been canceled en masse, so there is definitely a negative feedback loop that has kicked in
We also don't know how the system is going to change in Gaza. A civil war could erupt between Hamas and the various criminal families in Gaza, some of whom were armed and supported by Israel during the war.
So, we are far from out of the woods, but we are better off than we were a week ago. I enjoy the excitement of Gazan children who have posted hopeful messages on Instagram.
https://x.com/tparsi/status/1978950818670772399?s=19
Is this fake news? Is there really a pop song with the lyrics "may your village burn" it seems impossible to me.
I missed the difference of transactional vs relational in your piece when I read it the first time. Generally speaking transactional and relational are seen as being on opposite ends of a spectrum. I'm a little confused about your argument here. Are you saying Trump is both highly transactional and highly relational? Does he break the spectrum somehow? The common talking points on the left are about how transactional he is (as seen in other comments on your post) and this is my default perspective on him. It seems like there is more to figure out here.
It is also important to remember that while Trump might not like Netanyahu he does have strong relationships with many members of the Zionist billionaire club in America. Adelson, Ackman, Ellison et all aren't going anywhere and their influence over Trump counters the Arab. So far it seems like they hold more sway, although perhaps that will change.
Yes. Less people are being killed and that is a good thing.
It is good to hear that the number of reservists being called up has gone down. Didn't that happen with the previous ceasefire though? Are there any polls you can share about the desire to continue having gone down in Israel? I haven't seen anything about that.
My point about transactional and relational is that we are always a little of both. It's not a binary choice. If you are familiar with "parts therapy" that concept is a central component.
I haven't seen any polls since the cease-fire kicked in, but even before it not only did a majority of Israeli Jews support ending the war but even a plurality of right-wing Jews. I would expect that support to be even higher should a new poll emerge.
Do you think that Trump is unusual in his transactional/relational make up?
Can you share those polls? The only polls I have seen are the ones that show overwhelming support for ethnic cleansing and genocide. It would be good to see contravening polls.
Sure, here is a Times of Israel report on an Israel Democracy Institute poll from just last month: https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-plurality-of-right-wing-israelis-support-deal-that-would-end-gaza-war-poll/
Key passage: "Asked if Israel should agree to a deal that would release all hostages, end hostilities, and see the IDF pull out of Gaza, 64.5% said it should. Among Jewish Israelis, 62% back such a deal, while 81% of Arab Israelis support it. There were 6.5% of respondents who said they don’t know. On the political left, 92% favor such a deal, in the center 77%, while on the right, 47% were in favor compared to 44% who were opposed."
And they weren't asking about Israel staying in parts of Gaza after a cease-fire but actually pulling out.
That is an interesting poll as it shows support for expanding the fighting and for pulling out in order to get the hostages out. It seems like the primary focus for many is the Israeli hostages. It would be instructive to see a new round of polling now to see where public opinion is at this point. I have seen articles pointing to Netanyahu having record high approval ratings.
Thanks, Steve. Another thoughtful analysis. We know that trump is purely transactional and does what is best for himself.
Well, according to his latest physical, he is human, so there is a relational part of him, even if it's smaller than in the average human.