The first priority for the Trump administration will be the release of the hostages immediately, with no further delay, President-elect Donald Trump‘s newly-appointed Middle East Advisor, Massad Boulos, told French paper Le Point in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.
Boulos added that while the release of the hostages should be separate from issues relating to the future of Gaza, a hostage deal should come within the framework of a temporary ceasefire.
“The president believes that the hostages must be released immediately and that there must be no further delay,” he told Le Point. “According to him, their fate should not be linked to other issues related to the day after in Gaza. Several countries are currently helping to achieve this goal, whether it is Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, or even Turkey.”
However, Boulos stressed that Turkey should not replace Qatar’s role as mediator but that it did have influence over Hamas’s decision-making, given it now houses the terror group’s key officials.
When asked whether the incoming administration might support Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s plan to annex the West Bank, Boulos said that Trump has yet to publicly address this issue, and the administration has not yet implemented a policy.
However, Boulos did say that “starting January 20th, there will be a very clear and very specific policy on this subject, which must be respected.”
Boulos agreed that discussions around a “roadmap leading to a Palestinian state” would be a key part of discussions between the US and Israel. However, he said that so far, Saudi parties were not demanding the establishment of a Palestinian state.
He referenced Trump’s 2020 plan, which spoke of a proposed Palestinian state, the details of which “were rejected by both sides.”
Boulos continued that the president-elect’s priority is “to resume discussions on the Abraham Accords, with, of course, Saudi Arabia first. Because we know very well, and the president has said so, that once we reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia on Israel, there will be at least twelve Arab countries that will be immediately ready to follow suit.”
Plans for Iran
Speaking on Iran, Boulos said that Trump was adamant on preventing the regime from having a nuclear program. He stressed that Trump would put “maximum pressure” on Iran again and added that he felt Iran had changed tact since the former President was re-elected.
However, Boulos said that Trump was mainly focused on the nuclear deal and not the regime itself, which he was prepared to negotiate with.
“Nevertheless, there are three very important points for him: Iran must absolutely not have nuclear power; Iran’s ballistic missiles pose a risk not only to Israel, but also to the Gulf countries; and finally, the problem posed by Iranian proxies in the region, whether in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq or Yemen. Apart from these three axes, President Trump did not talk about regime change.”
Lebanese-American businessman Massad Boulos was recently appointed by Trump as his Middle East adviser. The Republican is father to the president’s sons-in-law, the husband of his daughter Tiffany Trump.
Speaking on his appointment, Boulos told Le Point that “it was a great honor” and a “great responsibility.”
“The vision is to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East. We have four years to work and we hope to achieve something that will be sustainable for the future and generations to come,” he added.
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