Meeting with autocrat Abbas and his regime in Ramallah, Germany’s new foreign minister, Heiko Maas, told the Palestinian leaders that their insults and efforts to remove the U.S. from the peace process won’t end well for them.

By Israel Today Staff

The Palestinian leadership might not like it, but the unavoidable fact is that the United States, even under President Donald Trump, is an absolutely necessary player in brokering any Middle East peace agreement.

Germany’s Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas – Photo: ©Superbass/CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons

That was the message that Germany’s new foreign minister, Heiko Maas, sought to convey to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas this week.

Maas is in Ramallah to meet with Abbas and his regime in an effort to kickstart the Israel-Palestinian peace process.

While there, he told Abbas to “not tear down bridges” with the Americans.

In recent months, Abbas has taken great offense to Trump’s unabashed affinity for Israel, going so far as to publicly wish for the White House to collapse on the American leader’s head. Wishing for someone’s house to fall on their head is a common Arabic curse against one’s enemies.

While he’s not personally insulting Trump and other members of his administration, Abbas has been lobbying hard in Europe to launch a new peace process that doesn’t include the Americans.

But, he’s hit a brick wall, after European leaders unequivocally told Abbas that a comprehensive Middle East peace deal leading to the creation of a Palestinian Arab state is impossible without the involvement of Washington.

Maas reiterated that position on Monday.

What the Europeans have agreed to do is lobby the Trump Administration to abandon its outright support for Israel and its positions. But, if the past year has taught us anything, it’s that Trump marches to the beat of his own drum, and is unlikely to heed any recommendations he feels are not in line with his administration’s agenda in the region.

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