Questions for the president-elect on Middle East policy

Two months remain before Donald Trump takes office and a lot can happen in the Middle East during that time. Israel dodged one imminent bullet when the Biden administration decided to ignore the calls for it to cut off arms deliveries to Israel. Though aid agencies and critics insisted Israel did not meet the requirements set out by the administration for increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza, Biden decided Israel had done enough to satisfy his demands. More likely, he did not want to enrage the incoming president by withdrawing support for Israel’s war effort.

In his remaining time, Biden undoubtedly hopes to achieve a foreign-policy victory to remediate his tarnished legacy. Prospects are not good. He may intensify efforts to reach ceasefires in the Middle East and secure the release of the hostages but neither Hamas nor Hezbollah are willing to make a deal. This gives Trump the opportunity to be the peacemaker he has promised to be.

Besides assurances about peace, Trump gave few clues as to what his policy toward the Middle East will be. It’s possible that, like in his first term, he won’t have one. Nevertheless, he will ultimately have to answer these questions:

You have said you expect Israel to end its war with Hamas before you are inaugurated. What if the war doesn’t end? Will you pressure Israel to accept a ceasefire? How? Will you consider cutting off arms to Israel?

You have said Israel should win; what does that mean to you?

Will you send additional aid to Israel to help it defeat its enemies and ensure that weapons like 2,000-pound bombs embargoed by the Biden administration are delivered?

What steps will you take to free the hostages? Do you believe you can negotiate a deal with Hamas? Should U.S. troops become more directly involved in the search for the American hostages?

What is your position on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza? Will you pressure Israel as Biden has to allow more aid in regardless of whether Hamas is stealing it? Will you pressure Egypt to allow Gazans to leave so they can be safe and have unfettered access to assistance?

What do you want to see happen after the war in Gaza ends? Biden said that he would not accept an Israeli presence in Gaza; what is your view? Do you support Israel establishing a buffer zone near its border and one for the Philadelphi Corridor?

Who do you expect to govern Gaza? Will you accept the Palestinian Authority with or without a Hamas element? Will the United States contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza?

In your first term, you cut off aid to UNRWA. Biden restored it. Israel has outlawed the organization, and we now know that members of its staff participated in the Oct. 7 massacre and that the organization was complicit in aiding Hamas. Will you cut aid to UNRWA again? Will your U.N. ambassador seek to replace it with another aid agency?

Biden also restored aid to the Palestinians. Will you cut that again? Will you adhere to the Taylor Force Act and prohibit funding to the Palestinian Authority until it ends its “pay for slay” policy?

Will you try to negotiate a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians? Will you try again to sell your peace plan?

Israel’s finance minister said he expects you to support Israel’s annexation of the settlements. Will you?

How will you end the war in Lebanon? Will you pressure Israel to accept a ceasefire? Will you support the continuation of the war until Israel has made it safe for its citizens to return to their homes in the north? Will you provide arms to the Lebanese army? Will you support the Biden administration’s deal for Hezbollah to be kept beyond the Litani River and the Lebanese army to take responsibility for the area along Israel’s border? Will you support the continuation of the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in Lebanon despite its abject failure?

Iran is much closer to a nuclear bomb than when you left office. You have said Iran will not be allowed to have a bomb; how will you stop them? Are you prepared to use military force? Will you use force if Iran or its proxies attack Americans?

You have intimated that Israel should destroy Iran’s nuclear capability. Do you support an Israeli strike? Would you support an Israeli strike on Iranian energy targets even if it might adversely affect the U.S. economy?

Will you continue Biden’s policy of deploying U.S. forces to defend Israel against missiles and drones fired by Iran and its proxies?

Will you make Iran pay a price for plotting to assassinate you? What will you do?

You’ve said you want to negotiate with Iran, and that it could even be part of the Abraham Accords. What would that negotiation involve?

You’ve said you would again apply “maximum pressure” on Iran, but it failed because of the lack of cooperation from allies and China’s circumvention of oil sanctions. What will be different this time?

The Iranian people have become more defiant, but their protests have been brutally suppressed. Will you do anything to support Iranians who wish to overthrow the Islamic regime?

How will you stop the continuing threat posed by the Houthis to Israel, the U.S. Navy and international shipping?

You have said that you want to expand the Abraham Accords. What countries do you think will be willing to join?

Qatar has not joined the accords, continues to host members of Hamas, sponsors terror and is the largest contributor of funds to American universities. Do you plan to address any of these issues?

The Biden administration has been on the verge of negotiating either a bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia or a trilateral one that would lead to Saudi normalization of relations with Israel. Do you think you can seal a deal? Are you prepared to meet the Saudi demands for a defense treaty, more weapons and access to nuclear technology?

Numerous anti-Israel resolutions are introduced every year at the United Nations, will you veto those in the Security Council and oppose those in the General Assembly?

You withdrew from the Human Rights Council in your first term. Will you keep the United States out of the HRC?

More than $13 billion has been contributed to American universities by Arab sources. Because of the lack of transparency by both universities and the U.S. Department of Education, we know almost nothing about how the money is used or what its impact is on research, teaching and the toxic campus environment for Jewish students. Will you insist that universities disclose information about donors and the use of their funds and ensure the DoE enforces reporting requirements?

Will you increase funding and staffing so the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Education can investigate all the claims against universities for failing to meet their Title VI obligations to protect Jewish students? Will you instruct the commission to use its power to deny government funds to universities that violate the law?