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James discusses this week’s developments on Radio Islam’s Middle East Report.
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[Anchor] Middle East Report with James Dorsey on Sabah al-Muslim.
[James M. Dorsey] James M. Dorsey, award-winning scholar and journalist with a different perspective on the Middle East, also a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. James M. Dorsey joins us for the Middle East Report.
James, good morning and thank you so much for joining us on Radio Islam International.
[Anchor] Good morning. It’s always a pleasure to be with you.
[James M. Dorsey] Let’s start off with U.S. President Donald Trump is shifting the parameters of the U.S.-Israeli relationship and potentially Palestinian politics.
[Anchor] Trump is doing that in several ways. He has essentially told Israel, certainly with regard to formal annexation of the West Bank, what it can and cannot do. The same is true for the way Israel responds to alleged ceasefire violations by Hamas.
And Trump is pushing for implementation of the second phase of his 20-point plan involving a nonpartisan Palestinian administration of Gaza, something Israel really doesn’t want to see. Towards Hamas, Trump has not closed the door on a political future for the group and suggested he could pressure Israel to release from prison Marwan Barhouti, the most popular Palestinian politician and a potential future president. The question is, what is Trump’s endgame?
Is he willing to exert the kind of pressure needed? And does he have the stamina to see the process through?
[Anchor} Palestinian public opinion is blowing new wind into Hamas’s sails, shredded by two years of brutal warfare in Gaza. The most recent public opinion poll, conducted in late October after a fragile ceasefire took hold, suggests that Hamas may have reversed its consistent rock bottom performance in repeated surveys during the war.
[James M. Dorsey] Absolutely. Hamas has recorded single digit endorsements in Palestinian public opinion polls. That appears to be changing with the latest poll, conducted in late October after the fragile ceasefire took hold. Hamas, with a third of Gazans saying they support Hamas, the group is far ahead of its arch rival Al Fatah and the West Bank-based Palestine Authority. 60 percent endorsed Hamas’s war conduct, while a majority approved the group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The poll results coupled with potential openings in the remarks by Trump and other US officials appear to have toughened Hamas’s negotiating position with regard to disarmament and whether it should play a role in Gaza’s post-war administration
[James M. Dorsey] And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu risks disrupting the balance of power in the World Zionist Congress with his party’s nomination of his son, a divisive figure in Israeli and Zionist politics, as the group’s next leader.
[Anchor] 1400 delegates gathered in Jerusalem this week for the World Zionist Congress. Things didn’t work out quite the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted, exposing a widening gap between Israel and significant segments of the global Jewish community. Delegates passed a resolution ruling out an Israeli resettlement of Gaza and promised to financially support Israeli human rights groups if the Israeli parliament passes a law that would effectively deprive them of foreign government funding.
Most crucially, in an attempt by Netanyahu’s Likud party to make the prime minister’s divisive son, Yair, a board member with the rank of an Israeli cabinet member, has disrupted a carefully negotiated power-sharing agreement between the movement’s various factions.
[Anchor] And finally, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s appointment of the kingdom’s new grand mufti has raised some eyebrows.
[James M. Dorsey] Indeed, the appointment of ultra-conservative Islamic scholar Saleh bin Abdullah bin Fawwan raises multiple questions. At age 90, bin Fawzan is likely to be a transition figure. Moreover, he represents the pre-Mohammed bin Salman religious establishment that opposed the crown prince’s projection of Islam as tolerant.
Bin Fawzan has a record of denouncing Shi’ism and opposing the kind of e-sports and gaming that bin Salman promotes as part of his Vision 2030 plan to diversify the Saudi economy. Having said that, bin Fawzan, like many old guard Saudi Islamic scholars, has kept his views to himself since the rise of the crown prince.
[Anchor] James, thank you so much for joining us on Radio Islam International. Always a pleasure to have you on.
[James M. Dorsey] The pleasure is mine. Thank you for having me. Have a lovely day.
[Anchor] And that was James Dorsey, award-winning scholar and journalist.
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