President Trump landed in Israel after a meeting with King Salman of Saudi Arabia. This is a first, no American president has ever visited Israel on his first overseas trip.
Donald Trump created history by flying directly from Riyadh to Jerusalem. To date, there has never been a flight from any Saudi City to Israel for the last seven decades. The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his entire cabinet were at the airport to welcome Trump.There were a few who wanted to give the welcome a miss but the Israeli prime minister enforced their attendance.
In addition, in news is reported by CNN International it is now clear that Trump had no peace plan to discuss with the Israeli PM.
Trump in Israel
The Saudi Arabian visit was a first by itself as no American president had ever visited the Arabian nation immediately after taking office. The visit was successful from the financial angle as Donald could get a deal of 110 billion dollars immediately. This will keep the military industrial complex working and generate employment.This will go a long way to help the US economy.
In Israel Trump was accommodated at the King David luxury hotel in Jerusalem. He was given a bomb proof and gas proof room. Even with no peace plan up his sleeve,he achieved another first; no sitting US president has ever prayed at the holy wall which is extremely sacred for Jews.
No peace plan
Apart from notching some firsts, Donald Trump had no peace plan up his sleeve. He did meet Mohammed Abbas the prime minister of Palestine but he has nothing to show. Even his request to stop funding of families of hard-line terrorist in jail or killed went unheeded. His massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia has also created disquiet in Israel.
Donald Trump has realized that the Middle East is a tough nut to crack. With Hamas still on the warpath, the results of the US president's visit doesn't amount to much.
Trump stops
Trump has also not announced the shifting of the US embassy to Jerusalem, a campaign promise it appears he is now reluctant to keep. When he appointed David M Friedman as ambassador to Israel, it appeared this would be one of the first things he would do.
But he has not bitten the bullet and Israel will be wondering what they have achieved with this visit by the American president.
Saudi Arabia the gainer
The only country that is a gainer is Saudi Arabia which now will have the latest weaponry as part of its arsenal.This shows the strength of the Petro dollars. Israel is alarmed. One will recollect that military assistance to Israel is just 38 billion dollars spread over 10 years as announced by the Obama administration. This is an extremely small amount compared to what the Saudi's received.
