Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

BRYAN LEIB: Donald Trump Was The Ultimate Peacemaker President

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This week, the world will celebrate the three-year anniversary of President Donald J. Trump’s Abraham Accords. On September 15, 2020, President Trump ushered in a new era of peace and collaboration in the Middle East between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on the White House South Lawn.

While intelligence community leaders said President Trump’s bold decision to keep his campaign promise and move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel, would cause war in the Middle East, just the opposite happened.

Not shockingly, many of these individuals said the same when the framework of the Abraham Accords were initially announced but just as they were wrong before, they were wrong once again.

Long sought-after peace was achieved in the Middle East through America leading with strength, standing with our allies and without any wars started or bullets fired when the experts said the opposite would happen.

I’ve long held the position and used the analogy that President Trump and his administration provided the metaphorical runway and jet fuel for long-standing relationships between the Israelis, Bahrainis and Emiratis that had been held in the darkness to take off into the light for the world to see.

These long-held relationships being brought into the light have already led to tremendous economic and societal expansions.

So as we approach the three-year anniversary of the signing of these historic peace accords, it’s worth asking the question of why isn’t President Joe Biden expanding on the Abraham Accords?

When President Biden took office in January 2021 he had a prime opportunity to expand the Abraham Accords but unfortunately he did not. The Biden Administration didn’t even acknowledge the Abraham Accords in the first year of the administration and that has created a chilling effect in the Middle East.

The Biden Administration’s decision to realign America’s foreign policy toward appeasement with the Islamic Republic of Iran while largely ignoring America’s closest allies such as Israel, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others have been a catastrophic mistake.

This mistake has driven the Islamic Republic of Iran closer to Russia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In March 2023, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after seven years of tensions. The major diplomatic breakthrough was negotiated by China. I didn’t have that on my 2023 bingo card!

So as this three-year anniversary approaches, I want to take a moment to applaud the courageous leaders President Trump assembled to achieve this historic peace in the Middle East.

In addition, Jared Kushner, fmr. Ambassador David Friedman, Robert Greenway, Avi Berkowitz, Jason Greenblatt and many others also deserve to be recognized for the leadership roles they played in bringing lasting peace to the Middle East.

Looking forward, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is most likely the next Arab majority country to officially make a peace or normalization agreement with Israel but the chances that the inept Biden Administration will be the broker is slim.

Similar to the Israelis enjoying behind-the-scenes friendships and business relationships with the Emiratis and Bahrainis, the same is true for the Israelis and Saudis. I am confident that the Israelis and Saudis will reach a historic peace/normalization agreement sooner than later.

One thing is for sure — President Trump and his team showed the world that peace is possible in the Middle East and for that, they will go down in the history books as the ultimate peace makers.

Bryan E. Leib is the Executive Director of CASEPAC, the former Executive Director of Iranian Americans for Liberty, and a former GOP Congressional Candidate. He can be found on X, @BryanLeibFL

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.