As Israeli forces continue operations in Syrian territory, a public rebuke from President Donald Trump-the incursions are “counterproductive”-exposes the fault lines in America’s Middle East strategy. Yet in Netanyahu’s defiant response, maintaining that Israel will not retreat one step from territories it occupies, a deeper reality lies: even as the administration pursues an audacious diplomatic endgame, which might reshape the region, the limits of Washington’s influence extend to its closest regional ally.

Behind closed doors, three strategic imperatives reportedly drive US policy in the Middle East. All of them are fraught with contradictions that may forge a historic peace or ignite new conflict between America’s own allies.

The Abraham Accords: From achievement to ambition

The crown jewel of Trump’s Middle East policy remains the Abraham Accords-the 2020 normalization agreements that established diplomatic relations between the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco and Israel. Now, administration officials are eyeing an even more ambitious expansion: bringing Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria into the fold.

“The Abraham Accords represented a paradigm shift in how we think about Middle East peace,” says Dr. Martin Indyk, former US Ambassador to Israel. “But expanding them to include Syria and Saudi Arabia would be transformative on an entirely different scale.”

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According to diplomats, Syria’s inclusion is considered indispensable political cover for the real prize: Saudi Arabia. “You cannot ask Saudi Arabia to normalize with Israel while Damascus remains outside the framework,” says Dr. Cinzia Bianco, a Gulf analyst at the........

© Middle East Monitor