Can Trump prevent Israel, Turkey from clashing in Syria?
Seeing opportunity in a new nuclear deal with Iran and eager to avoid entanglement in Syria, Trump appears to finally be making moves toward Middle East engagement. But don't call it a policy yet.
This is an excerpt from Al-Monitor Security, a weekly newsletter covering defense and conflict developments in the Middle East. To get Al-Monitor Security in your inbox, sign up here.
WASHINGTON — Early this year, President Donald Trump set a course for his second-term Middle East policy by giving Israel a freer hand in the region.
From Gaza to Lebanon and Syria, the Israeli military ramped up airstrikes as its troops dug in, shattering one fragile ceasefire and testing the limits of another while knocking out the remnants of Syria’s Cold War arsenal — all with a tacit green light from Washington.
But Trump’s hands-off approach has allowed Israel’s security ambitions in Syria to run headlong into those of US NATO ally Turkey while also risking a more direct confrontation with Iran, some US officials fear.
