The first stop was Riyadh. Just a few months into his new administration, the president of the US met the king of Saudi Arabia as part of an effort to push forward relations with the Arab world.
From there, it was off to another regional capital, where the leader of the free world gave a speech about a new vision for the Middle East.
Conspicuously missing from the itinerary was a stop in Israel.
The year was 2009, and the president was Barack Obama. His decision not to visit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had just returned to office, was viewed as an insult. It marked the beginning of what many to this day see as Obama’s fractured relationship with Israel, and particularly with the country’s longest-serving leader.
But as President Donald Trump begins his first visit to the region in his second term, the same elephant sits in the same corner of the Oval Office. Israel is once again not on the itinerary.
Trump had already blindsided Israel several times – announcing talks with Iran, a deal with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, and direct talks with Hamas – Israeli officials are concerned another surprise could be coming.
Israeli officials tried to inquire about the possibility of a stop in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv during Trump’s trip, according to a source. But the president doused the flicker of those hopes last week.
Trump might have been persuaded to add the visit to his itinerary if he could claim some sort of victory, whether it be a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, a humanitarian aid plan, or something else. But with Israel poised to expand its war in Gaza, there are no such deliverables.
Read the full analysis.
