Howard Epstein – WELL, TRUMP THAT! A VIEW FROM ISRAEL
In 2001, an Israeli newspaper published a cartoon that showed two Israeli kids. The conversation was thus:-
“I hope Sharon becomes prime minister.”
“Why?”
“Because my daddy says if Sharon becomes prime minister, we’re going to live in America”.
Well, as we know, Ariel Sharon did become PM and nothing terrible happened (save perhaps for Israel’s unilateral disengagement from Gaza in August 2005). What did occur, however, was that Israel’s enemies knew they had a formidable enemy in the PMO in Jerusalem.
How is this relevant to the election of President Donald Trump? Well, given the loss of influence of the USA in the Middle East (with the Russians ruling the roost, not least because they are fully ensconced in Syria, controlling the airspace out west to Cyprus and beyond) and Obama’s disastrous “Pivot to the East”, trashed in a heartbeat by the loss of the Philippines to the Chinese sphere of influence, something had to be done to curb Russian and Chinese adventurism. The election of Hillary Clinton was certainly not going to do it. The election of Trump just might. The time for Iranian missiles being fired across the bows of US Navy warships with impunity are either over or numbered – and they know it.
Of course, Trump is an unknown quantity. He has never held public office nor served in the armed forces. His choice of words have been cringe-making. He did not seem to learn anything from what many thought were self-destructive gaffes. Yet it is not too late for him to learn. After all, he will be surrounded by experts who will understand much more about their portfolios than he ever will. How will a novice like him in so many fields be able to cope? Take a look at the performance of Ronald Reagan.
Admittedly, Reagan, the former B movie actor, had been Governor of California before running for president, but nothing in his background suggested that he would be the one to bring the Soviet Union to its knees. Then there was Reaganomics: an amalgam of wide-ranging tax cuts, deregulation, and domestic spending restraint which helped fuel an economic boom that lasting two decades. And “Peace Through Strength”, following years of Carter-inspired decline. (Sound familiar?) How much detail did Reagan understand? Jacky Mason’s joke was that when asked about detail, Reagan would answer: “That’s not my department.” And detail is unlikely to be Trump’s, but no matter – he will have the space to look at the big picture. That is what a president should be doing.
Trump was called many names and accused of many misdemeanours, just as was his opponent, Hillary Clinton. There is a difference: what she was accused of was allegedly committed in public office. It seems that there is an advantage, after all, in Trump never having held such office.
And where does Israel stand now? Instead of the likely continuation of Obama’s unfriendly policies, not to say animus – and the “tough love” of Kerry – we can for a little while speculate on the possibility of Israel’s representatives having to deal with John Bolton, Newt Gingrich and Rudi Giuliani. That’s big plus.
Lastly, Trump was criticized for never sounding presidential. Well, he changed all that with his speech, made minutes after Hillary Clinton called to concede the election to him. Coherent, intelligent and emollient – sufficient to instil confidence in all but those who do not want him to succeed on any basis. There is every chance that he will prove them wrong – again.
This election will echo around the world. Brexit brought Europe up hard. This further anti-establishment vote is a massive, radical and seismic event. The decline of America may just have been arrested. The whole American nation should embrace this real opportunity for change. But please: no Nobel Peace Prize. Not this side of Trump actually achieving something that warrants it. We can be sure he will strive to accomplish that.
© 2016 Howard Epstein
Howard Epstein is a political commentator and the author of Guns, Traumas and Exceptionalism: America in the Twenty-First Century, recently published by Amazon and on Kindle.
