Why U.S. allies aren’t taking Trump seriously after his push for Arab-Israel normalization

It was the kind of sweeping, last-minute demand that would have torpedoed most diplomatic talks: President Donald Trump insisting this week that in exchange for him ending the war with Iran, several Arab and Muslim countries should sign on to his Abraham Accords to normalize their diplomatic relations with Israel.

TEL AVIV — It was the kind of sweeping, last-minute demand that would have torpedoed most diplomatic talks: President Donald Trump insisting this week that in exchange for him ending the war with Iran, several Arab and Muslim countries should sign on to his Abraham Accords to normalize their diplomatic relations with Israel.

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But there’s been almost no response from any of the countries that Trump mentioned by name — more than half of whom already have diplomatic relations with Israel — and no statement of support from an Israeli government that would reap enormous benefits from such a deal.

Analysts said Trump’s last-minute condition was so sudden and unworkable, it would appear to most diplomats as a kind of cry for help from a leader who is desperate to wring a legacy-defining victory from his unpopular war.