Dear Friend,

Will the deal between Israel and the U.A.E. announced by Trump’s senior advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, really result in new negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority?

Writing for The New Republic, Trita Parsi gives readers a clear-eyed assessment:

It is by now almost a formality: In the Middle East, nothing either good or bad can transpire without Washington pointing to Tehran’s alleged hegemonic designs as the force behind it. So it was with the so-called peace deal announced last week between Israel and the United Arab Emirates; two countries who were never at war declared peace, and the Trump administration—along with much of Washington—quickly deemed it historic.

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Parsi makes it clear: “What binds Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E. together is not so much the threat from Iran but the threat of the United States military leaving the Middle East.” How is this sold here in the U.S.? “Keeping the U.S. stuck in the Middle East for the benefit of these states is not a popular or effective talking point in Washington. Exaggerating the threat of Iran is,” Parsi adds.

In this Trump administration deal, “The Palestinians are mere non-speaking extras in a Washington production of ‘Middle East Peace,’” Parsi explains. “And the land-for-peace formula is long dead, as Israel has systematically encroached Palestinian territory with impunity. Now, the Iran threat is wielded against an entirely different audience—the American public.”

With the election heating up, now’s the time to join Trita Parsi and some of the best investigative reporters, opinion writers, and cultural critics in America.

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Sincerely,

Kerrie Gillis, publisher

Read Trita Parsi’s “The Israel-U.A.E. Deal Puts the ‘Forever’ in ‘Forever War’”