David K. Rees

Trump, Iran, Peace, and Israel

Photo credit, Ivanka Trump, center, and  Jared Kushner, right, listen to US President Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting at the White House, in Washington, November 20, 2017. (Evan Vucci/AP)  Times of Israel, April 8, 2026

As they used to sing when I  young, “I woke up this morning, you [Trump] were on my mind.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlR66wWLCxQ&list=RDAlR66wWLCxQ&start_radio=1

Actually, this morning, Trump was on my mind was the second thing I thought about. The first thing that occurred to me  when I woke up this morning was I was in my bed and not my safe room. That meant that Trump had not started a another war yet.

Still it gave me an incentive to read the terms of the peace deal between Iran and Trump under which Iran had agreed to open the Straits of Hormuz for two weeks

Here is my reaction to Trump’s deal.  I was absolutely stunned that Iran would give up blocking the Straits of Hormuz, even for two weeks. Then I thought about it a bit.  Iran is smart enough to know that all Trump really cares about is money. Trump, with Jared’s help, has  figured out  that the Arabian peninsula countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE,  are a source of lots and lots of money. Those states are desperate to have the Straits of Hormuz open, so that they can sell their oil. That, in turn, will make not only make money for Trump, it will also make millions of dollars for Jared  (read Ivanka and their children) too. The deal that Trump announced Tuesday  gives the Arabian countries  two weeks to get their oil out.

It also gives  Trump an incentive to roll over and give Iran whatever it wants in negotiations.  It is also an incentive to get Trump to close his big mouth and stop making threats. It also means that once this war is over and there is  peace, the Straits of Hormuz will remain open, but still in Iranian control.  It  also gives Trump the opportunity to say that he is a peacemaker who deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. That will help Republicans in the November American elections and play to Trump’s overinflated ego. Perhaps most important and scary thing to me,  as one who lives in Israel, it gives Trump another chance to abandon Israel in favor of its enemies by allowing Iran to continue to make a nuclear bomb. Iran is playing Trump like a fiddle and this two-week hiatus will allow Iran to get whatever they want in negotiations, including control of the Straights of Hormuz.

There is a fundamental principle here.. People and countries, including Iran, in the Middle East bargain very differently  than Americans, especially, New York real estate developers, do.  Americans make offers and counter offers until they reach a deal with which both parties can live. Sometimes threats are made, as Trump has done  big time in his present negotiations with Iran.

Iran, in contrast, has made offers which it knows Trump cannot possibly accept. Iran just sits back and lets Trump bid against himself until Iran gets everything it wants.  Look at what Iran did to Barack Obama

They don’t call Trump TACO (Trump always chickens out) for nothing

About the Author
Before making Aliyah from the United States, I spent over three decades as a lawyer in the United States. My practice involved handling many civil rights cases, including women's- rights cases, in State and Federal courts. I handled numerous constitutional cases for the ACLU and argued one civil rights case in the United States Supreme Court. I chaired the Colorado Supreme Court's Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure and served on the Colorado Supreme Court's Civil Rules and Rules of Evidence Committees. Since much of my practice involved the public interest, I became interested in environmental law and worked closely with environmental organizations, including the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). I was on the Rocky Mountain Board of EDF. I received an award from the Nebraska Sierra Club as a result of winning a huge environmental case that was referred to me by EDF. I also developed significant knowledge of hazardous and radioactive waste disposal. I was involved in a number of law suits concerning waste disposal, including a highly-political one in the United States Supreme Court which involved the disposal of nuclear waste. As I child I was told by my mother, a German, Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany, that Israel was a place for her and her child. When I first visited Israel many years later, I understood what she meant. My feeling of belonging in Israel caused me to make Aliyah and Israel my home. Though I am retired now, I have continued my interest in activism and the world in which I find myself.
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