T. Belman, If you disagree with everything that Freilich wrote here you won’t be too far wrong. A week ago I attended his lecture in which he introduced a book he just wrote and published. That was my first encounter with his opinions and I took great issue with him.
In this case, Israel has always claimed that she will fight her own battles. She just wants diplomatic and military support.. In 2012 Bibi was ready to bomb Iran as she hid and Obama stopped him. Obama wanted to strengthen Iran and weaken israel. Trump the opposite.
To this end, he correctly disowned the JCPOA and has authorized Irael to fight back against Iranian infiltration in Syria. He has strengthened Israel by acknowledging the Golan as hers, Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel, that the settlements are not illegal, that Israel should keep the jordan Valley..
Jeez, how much more do we want Trump to do for us. Yes, Trump wants to get out of the M.E. but he also wants to leave a strong Israel in his place.
Three years of Trump’s limited and chaotic efforts to thwart Iranian regional expansionism and end Tehran’s nuclear ambitions have failed. And Israel is on the frontline of those failures
By Chuck Freilich, HAARETZ

A blanket featuring U.S. President Donald Trump atop a tank and holding a gun hangs near the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio on Jan 9th where he is holding his first campaign rally of 2020AFP
The beginning of the final and critical year of President Donald Trump’s first term, during which we will find out whether he is reelected to a second, is a fitting time to assess his achievements in the Middle East to date.
As is appropriate, however, to the general Trumpian approach of governance by chaos, it is difficult to assess his record in terms of coherent policy. Instead of well-founded strategy, what we have is a series of isolated acts, some successful, others not, often largely a matter of impulse.
Iran‘s nuclear program and regional expansionism have been the primary issues that have concerned Trump in the Middle East.
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