“In diplomacy, I have often said that when you do surprises, you usually drive your friends into the fetal position.” Former American Diplomat Dennis Ross’s comments during a Washington Institute for Near East Policy presentation typified the unease of his fellow panelists in the United States and the Middle East in response to Donald Trump’s upset election – particularly because the president-elect’s future actions remain disturbingly unknown.
Calling in from Saudi Arabia, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi also expressed his astonishment at the events of Nov. 8, saying that “Saudi Arabian officials were caught off guard by the election of Mr. Trump” because they had expected “the lady they know very well,” Hillary Clinton, to become president-elect. Khashoggi’s colleague, Jordanian Jumana Ghunaimat, said that the majority of her countrymen were also surprised by the Republican’s win.
American political observer Norman Ornstein said that Trump’s election exhibited the “Bradley effect,” in which perceived social disapproval deters individuals from revealing their true sentiments, even anonymously to pollsters. “In Israel, people tell the truth to pollsters – then they lie when they vote,” Ornstein said; this sentiment was confirmed by Times of Israel founding Editor David Horovitz in his online appearance from Israel. Israeli surprise about Trump remained limited, for “Israelis have a great deal less faith in opinion surveys and pollsters than Americans seem to,” he said. “Polling in Israel is spectacularly discredited; they get everything wrong all the time.”
Horovitz noted a discrepancy in Israeli surveys concerning the American presidential election, and said that he believed Israelis “would have voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by a good margin” of 10-15 percent, although “Israelis were telling the pollsters they thought that Trump would probably be – whatever it means – better for Israel.” Horovitz added that political newbie Trump’s lack of a policy track record swayed many Israelis in Clinton’s favor.
In addition, Horovitz said that when Israelis evaluate American presidents, a “big factor is empathy. Israelis loved Bill Clinton. They didn’t much like George H. W. Bush, [but] they kind of liked George W. Bush. It has been difficult with Obama.”
He went on to explain that,
People don’t just want to live and let live in this part of the world. Some of them want to kill and be killed – and better still to encourage other people to kill and be killed in some perverted sense of what God requires of them. We want an American president who understands the evil that people can do.
Conversely, Horovitz pointed out that “most Israelis would feel that Trump has evinced a credible empathy for Israel,” while President Barack Obama’s administration “has underestimated how treacherous this region can be. Israeli leadership would be withering on the way the Obama Administration has related to Iran, [whose Islamic Republic is] ideologically and territorially – a rapacious regime.” Horovitz further accused the Obama Administration of showing a “willful blindness to the danger posed by this regime and a refusal to listen to what the regime was saying.”
Khashoggi was less optimistic in describing Saudis who “have to go back to the drawing board and plan with the uncertainty of Mr. Trump.” While some Saudis speculated that “Trump the president is different from Trump the candidate,” Khashoggi warned that the president-elect’s views “are deep-rooted into his philosophy. He had been expressing such views for the last 20 years. If we had difficulties with somebody like Mr. Obama, I am sure we will have more difficulties with Mr. Trump.” Warning that “Saudi Arabia should be ready for surprises – for negative remarks coming from the Trump administration,” Khashoggi suggested “some kind of alliance of Muslim countries who could be targeted by this rightwing administration.”
Also uncertain about the president-elect was Ghunaimat, who said that most Jordanians are reserving judgment on a Trump who has voiced a “strange opinion” about Muslims, women and others. But she expressed confidence in the longstanding American-Jordanian “strategic relation,” saying that “nothing will change” with respect to issues like the fight against terrorism. She added that she has seen little change across the decades in American policies toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – irrespective of the administration – but she also expressed the hope that a “new administration could build a new bridge to have a final solution for this conflict.”
In America, Ornstein said that he was disappointed with the election of the thrice-married Trump, but said he “tried to reassure people not to worry too much. Within a couple of months, he will leave us for a younger country. We are now living in a world where worst-case scenarios are not necessarily fanciful scenarios.” He also warned that Trump has effectively promised an upcoming war on Islam and said that this foreshadowing, coupled with what he called Trump’s contradictions – including his “combination of isolationism and belligerence” – present a person who is “policy free. He has no idea other than a few sort of spasms of emotions and the attention span of a rabbit.”
Ornstein and Ross both stressed that Trump’s past and often novice policy prescriptions placed a special significance upon the individuals he would pick for his cabinet. “It pays to be humble at this point, not only because nobody predicted that he would be president, but also because there are enormous uncertainties out there – and we don’t really know what he would do,” Ross said. By contrast, “our traditional partners” the Israelis and Sunni Arabs – rather than feeling uncertainty post-election – “are looking for a strong America; a strong America that remains in the Middle East.”
Ross advocated American engagement in a Middle East where a “long stream of pretenders from [Egyptian dictator Gamal Abdel] Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood to ISIS … all claimed they have the answer to restore this region to greatness.” The current Saudi reform program (previously analyzed by him) “promises to create for the first time a successful model of development and modernization.”
Meanwhile, “there is a struggle for balance of power in the region. It’s a struggle between radical Islamists, Sunni and Shia, particularly Iran and the Shia militias, and non-Islamists. We have a big stake in that.”
Cross-posted from Philos Project.
no_one says
I think many people would be afraid to tell pollsters they were voting Trump. There was a lot of animosity towards Trump supporters and it is still present. Anti-Trump people on the other hand are very loud and are not afraid. It is not because they are brave, but because they know Trump and his supporters are actually nice and they will not do anything bad to the leftist. It is interesting how every foreigner has an opinion on Trump. These have to be reminded that the relations with their countries is not a major concern for American voters. US has it’s own problems.
cs says
They are triggered by the likely success of America. lol.
SoCalMike says
Dennis Ross personifies the type of maggot so invested in the Big Lie called the 2 State Solution, I lost respect for him and the rest of the diplomatic and media corps who sell this heinous lie reflexively and instinctively.
To continue to do so at this late date is nothing but Jew hatred.
I’m sick of watching these northeastern Ivy league maggots selling their fake humanitarianism.
Laura says
Amen!
Westman says
Second it. There will never be a world-imposed two-state solution because one side seeks the annihilation of the other.
cs says
I could not stand 5 minutes of his talk, I was trying to find if he was from the CFR or any other of these institutions. Yes, as the colleague have phrased rather well, he is so immersed in this multicultural discourse that he completely lacks self awareness of the rubbish he is putting out.
Richard says
That’s OK….Trump just handed ALL of these empty suits their walking papers! Now our greatest fear is that they will seek out jobs in education and continue brainwashing people with their ideology…
jeff says
Ross like other jewish traitors put their personal interests and careers above all else. They would have readily collaborated with the Nazis to save their skin.
SoCalMike says
“Trump’s lack of a policy track record swayed many Israelis in Clinton’s favor.”
This is precisely and exactly why Americans voted for him.
The American people voted for a “black man” on the false media promise of being forgiven for “our racism” only to be sold an America-hating Marxist who plundered our economy and set the world on fire playing foreign policy.
Twice we voted for the “opposition” to fight back and all they could do was French kiss and kitty lick the man.
This hubris gave birth to nemesis Trump.
CommoHull says
Great comment, Mike.
sog says
Instead of the supposed prior division between proletariat an Bourgeoisie, the Marcuse / Alinsky left (Obama and Hillary) bring us racial and supposed racial division. Their timing was off. They should have waited another decade. They made great progress on their demonic agenda over the past decade. An uninterrupted 2nd decade of the same “progress” would have destroyed America IMHO.
All Trump has to prove is that Americans are better off as one people, and parlay the prescient MLK dictum that we should only judge people by the content of their character. I *will* celebrate MLK day Monday…. Peace by upon you MLK, and thank you.
ibrahim itace muhammed says
andrew harrod, the emergence of devil trump signals the demise of the united states as hegemonious entity.first, mad trump promised to fight political islam from the root.that major battle which the united states will definitely lose at the battlefield, and its economy collapses.secondly, mad trump cannot play tactical approach to conflicts in the midleast region ;eg between backwarded wahhabi rulers and iran visavis israeli-palestinian conflict,which muslim masses will not allow their corrupt rulers to side the united states and israel against palestinian state.the mad jewish slave has alred started the blunder by his promise to satisfy all jewish dream of swallowing the whole palestinian land in defiance of treaty of partition contained in un resolution no.181 creating palestine and israel as two states.this will also bring mad trump into clash with other sections of international community.can mad trump win?no, he will never win.the option that left for clueless mad trump is to declare hostility against iranian and saudi camps,which means war with all muslims.in that case, the united states will be defeated and its economy grounded.so, mr andrew harrod assist mad trump to weigh the two sides of the equation to choose between satisfying whims and caprices of the evil jews and survival of the united states as strong nation.mad trump could not foresee the danger ahead.
damian says
I totally disagree with you,try to be optimistic, no body ever taught he will scale through despite all obstacles but he did, for that reason alone I believe God almighty who created heaven and earth is with him,who God has blessed no man, not even the whole world can cause,long live America ,lets make America great again together thanks
JIMJFOX says
ibrahim itace muhammed
Jihadi TROLL. Don’t feed this this piece of Islamic dung.
Cecilia Ellis says
Ibrahim itace muhammed, here is an extract from an online article that might interest you:
In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal, on-topic discussion, often for the troll’s amusement.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll
Sound familiar?
billybob says
He’s not a troll. He just has a contrarian position. Deal with it.
Cecilia Ellis says
Billybob, thank you for your reply. Admittedly, there are different types of contrarians. Simply as a matter of curiosity, what suggests to you that I am not dealing with it?
billybob says
Cecilia – you give us a definition of a troll rather than rebut his comment. Nothing is accomplished thereby.
gravenimage says
billybob, that “contrarian position” held by muhammed involves our conquest, enslavement, and mass murder. It’s not as though he is just a member of the ‘loyal opposition’ on the other side of the aisle.
Cecilia Ellis says
Well, Billybob, you do have a valid point there. I probably should have addressed UN Resolution 181 — recommendation, not international law — which was rejected by all Arabs. However, that issue has been addressed sufficiently:
“Kerry insists that U. N. Resolution 181 — the ‘Partition Plan’ — was meant to ‘realize the national aspirations of both Jews and Palestinians.’ In 1947, there were no ‘Palestinians’ with ‘national aspirations.’ The invading Arab states never mentioned these ‘Palestinians’ and had no intention of giving up whatever territory they managed to win to a nonexistent ‘Palestinian’ people. And in 1947, the ‘national aspirations’ of the Jews were betrayed when they were left by the Partition Plan with only about half of what had been promised under the Palestine Mandate, or – if we include eastern Palestine — only 23% of the territory promised before eastern Palestine had been transformed into the Emirate of Transjordan. To the extent that the local Arabs had any “national aspirations,’ they were to destroy the Jewish state. In any case, Resolution 181 became a dead letter when the Arabs unanimously rejected it and then invaded Israel.”
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/01/john-kerry-those-illegal-settlements-that-two-state-solution-part-ii
For that reason, I provided no rebuttal. Maybe next time … ?
billybob says
That was educational – for me at least. Thank you Cecilia.
Westman says
Ibrahim, if what you say is true, Allah must be very angry with Muslims to bring Trump to power. He is, after all, all-powerful, so it must be his will. If Allah really wants a war with the West, he will likely get it on a nuclear scale and, perhaps, learn some better manners. It’s a horrible thought, yet not out of the realm of possibility.
As you might read in the annals of WWII, when civility was finally exhausted, there was no distinction made between civilian and military and it became a war of annihilation – a position already adopted by Fundamentalist Islam. No one actually ‘wins’ in this scenario, certainly not Islam. There would be no two-state solution and likely much of Jordan would become Israel.
don vito says
itace, the dot, helping kufr to connect islamic dots world wide. itace, how would a kufr protect their blood and property from the slimy, bloody, grasping hands of your lying thieving, filthy prophet?
gravenimage says
Appalling Muslim supremacist ibrahim itace muhammed wrote:
andrew (sic) harrod (sic), the emergence of devil trump (sic) signals the demise of the united (sic) states (sic) as hegemonious (sic) entity.
………………………………
Yes–as muhammed sees it, someone is a “devil” if they vow to try to keep violent Jihadists out of the country…
More:
first, (sic) mad trump (sic) promised to fight political islam (sic) from the root.that (sic) major battle which the united (sic) states (sic) will definitely lose at the battlefield, and its economy collapses.
………………………………
But I thought the US economy was going to collapse because Muslims on the dole were going to leave following the Trump win; or that the economy was going to collapse because Muslim nations were all going to invoke “sanctions” following Trump’s criticism of the US abstaining vote at the UN; or that the economy was going to collapse because we hadn’t imposed Shari’ah finance?
But then, why would a Mohammedan have to be consistent in anything?
And after all, everyone knows letting Muslims conquer us would be so much better for the US economy…sarc/off
More:
secondly (sic), mad trump (sic) cannot play tactical approach to conflicts in the midleast (sic) region ;eg between backwarded (sic) wahhabi (sic) rulers and iran (sic) visavis (sic) israeli-palestinian (sic) conflict,which (sic) muslim (sic) masses will not allow their corrupt rulers to side the united (sic) states (sic) and israel (sic) against palestinian (sic) state.
………………………………
What is muhammed babbling about? Iran and Saudi Arabia may hate each other, but as Muslims they hate the Jews more. Everyone knows this.
By the way, there is no “palestinian state”.
More:
the (sic) mad jewish (sic) slave has alred (sic) started the blunder by his promise to satisfy all jewish (sic) dream of swallowing the whole palestinian (sic) land in defiance of treaty of partition contained in un (sic) resolution no.181 creating palestine (sic) and israel (sic) as two states.this (sic) will also bring mad trump (sic) into clash with other sections of international community.can (sic) mad trump (sic) win?no, he will never win.
………………………………
Surrender, Infidels…
By the way, muhammed himself has never said that he supports a “two state solution”, but just sees it as a stepping stone to the destruction of Israel.
More:
the (sic) option that left for clueless mad trump (sic) is to declare hostility against iranian (sic) and saudi (sic) camps,which (sic) means war with all muslims (sic).
………………………………
Well, that’s just hilarious. The Saudis backed 9/11, and Iran has been screaming “Death to America!” for over almost forty years now. The idea that either of these Muslim nations are our allies is just absurd.
Also, didn’t muhammed claim that Trump’s support for Israel was seen as our declaring “war against all muslims”? Why would we need this, as well?
More:
in (sic) that case, the united (sic) states (sic) will be defeated and its economy grounded.
………………………………
I thought our economy was going to collapse because of Muslims on welfare leaving? Or because of “sanctions” against us? Or–in just this same post–because of “political Islam”?
muhammed may not be clear on the details–but he sure knows our economy is about to be “grounded”…
More:
so (sic), mr (sic) andrew (sic) harrod (sic) assist mad trump (sic) to weigh the two sides of the equation to choose between satisfying whims and caprices of the evil jews (sic) and survival of the united (sic) states (sic) as strong nation.mad (sic) trump (sic) could not foresee the danger ahead.
………………………………
In other words, don’t stand with any of the other victims of Islam, or we will destroy you. Surrender to Islam, and we will pretend to let you survive…
No thanks.
Philip says
Your verbal vomit attacking MrTrump is because of the deep insecurity you Muslims have inherited over the years of practicing Islam.You are sick like your narcissist ‘prophet’Mohammad.Persons like Mr Trump are going to rise all over the world to make Islam impotent.
mortimer says
Why would the 1% understand the have-nots who feel powerless, crushed, without hope? How would the 1% understand the people they were trying to render powerless, crushed, without hope?
How would they possibly have empathy for their victims from whom they tried so hard and spent so much money to steal the election.
The have-nots are not as stupid as they thought. Powerlessness makes you realize and see clearly who is stealing the power from the people and how they are doing it.
Saudi Arabia’s plan was to use the US as a cash cow while manipulating its elections and politicians indefinitely.
The US made a deal with the devil in KSA.
damian says
True word
Dan says
Hey Middle East.
There’s a ton of us non Americans who are dang glad Trump was elected too.
You people have been kicking sand in the world’s faces for too long because you not only refuse deal with your waco nut jobs, you won’t even publicly denounce them, (Except for a few token platitudes.) and now the world has a leader who seems to be telling you to go pound sand.
Thanks to fracking, nobody needs your oil anymore, and you can now go back and live in that society that, despite how many decades of oil you’ve sold, you’ve never managed to improve.
Have a nice day.
Angemon says
I always said what Mr. Ornstein is saying now – the difference is that I was saying it*before* Trump was elected. Some observe, others foresee 😉
No, Obama picked his side – and Israel, a long-time American ally and the only stable democracy in the entire Middle East, with freedom of expression, religion and equality before the law, wasn’t it.
I’m sure you will. Because you’re idiots. You wanted smooth sailing with Obama? You should have spent more resources in being even more hostile towards America. Iranians regularly burn American flags, scream “Death to America” and threaten American warships, and that seems to be working well for them.
Strange? Maybe. Truthful? The closest an elected Western in the last, I don’t know, 50-70 years has gotten to it.
Kilfincelt says
These are experts? No wonder that they didn’t see Trump being elected. All I heard was a lot of nonsense. I imagine that Saudi Arabia was upset over Clinton’s loss since they had bought and paid for her.
Clinton had committed crimes. What reasonable person wouldn’t understand that? Why would anyone vote for someone who broke the law? I guess these people were willing to overlook her criminal behavior because her policies are ones that they like.
Mr. Bigcockston says
For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert.
manu lui says
MY MY MY MY. DOES THIS SENTENCE “BLOODY DUMB ARABS SOUNDS FAMILIAR TO ANY OF YOU OUT THERE? BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE. DID THEY THINK THAT THEIR BLOOD TAINTED MONEY WILL HANDED THE MOST CORRUPT LADY NAME HILARY CLINTON? AMERICANS HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF OBAMA AND HIS CLOWNS CHARADES. NOTHING BUT CORRUPTION TO THE CORE. A TREE THAT ROT FROM THE TOP RIGHT TO THE BOTTOM.
harbidoll says
did I miss where they discussed the poor migrants in EU & US>?
Anne Smith says
Pat Condell summed up better than any other commentator why Trump was elected
billybob says
Very well stated – as usual for Par Condell.
gravenimage says
Absolutely spot on from Pat Condell. Thanks for posting this video, Anne.
Carolyne says
Yes, of course the Saudis know Hillary Clinton well–$30 million well.
jeff says
I really doubt Trump will defend Israel in any meaningful way. Rex Tillerson, the soon to be US Secretary of State, was Exxon Mobil’s secretary of state. He never met an arab muslim oil thug he didn’t like. And, I am quite certain, Tillerson accepts the Saudi position concerning Israel. All the big oil guys do. I am also quite certain Tillerson will pursue the same “2 state solution” pursued by Obama, Bush, and Clinton; and, if necessary, simply try to cram it down Israel’s throat.