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The Putin-Trump era of Middle East negotiations

The Palestinian leadership is encouraged by indications that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to play a major role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 7, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Shipenkov/Pool - RTSGEGA

A fascinating process has been underway in Palestinian foreign policy since the Nov. 8, 2016, election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States. The Palestinians are trying to make sense of the new international order being shaped, and at the same time they are also formulating plans for the new era. Every step made by the new president is studied, and every declaration by the president undergoes deep analysis by advisers and experts attempting to interpret its real meaning. Together, they draw conclusions and map out action and reaction plans.

One significant operative conclusion has recently come out of the frequent brainstorming at the Muqata, the Palestinian president's headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah: The classic negotiating formula created by the 1993 signing of the Oslo Accord, with the Israelis and Palestinians holding a dialogue or direct negotiations under American auspices, is a thing of the past. A Palestinian diplomatic source, speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, said this conclusion was clear even before Trump took office, but it has now been revalidated.

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