Gaza deal stalls over deceased hostages after Trump’s euphoric Israel visit — is Netanyahu relieved?
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined US President Donald Trump’s invitation to attend the Sharm el-Sheikh conference on ending the war and rebuilding Gaza.
TEL AVIV — Contrary to his euphoric statements on Monday morning at the Knesset about “the dawn of a new Middle East,” US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the two-year Israel-Hamas war does not redraw the map of the region. It is hardly comparable to the 1916 British-French Sykes-Picot Agreement that divided the post-Ottoman Empire into the modern-day states of the Middle East.
Nonetheless, by signing the declaration ending the war on Monday evening in the presence of Arab and European leaders gathered in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Trump changed the rules of the game. He anointed two new agents of influence in the region — Turkey and Qatar — positioning himself as its overarching governor.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to forego Trump's invitation to attend the Sharm el-Sheikh summit left Israel outside this emerging configuration. Netanyahu’s attendance could have afforded him the one photo of “ultimate victory” he has long desired since Oct. 7, 2023 — standing side by side with world leaders, in a post-Hamas Middle East.
Trump's advantage
