Hendel (speaking from Israel via Skype) said that in Trump’s black-and-white “clash of civilizations” outlook on Islam, the president sees Israel as the “bad guy” facing off against the “good guy.” But Satloff was more pessimistic about Trump’s professed deal-making ability to achieve a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Most objective observers just conclude that the objective circumstances for success aren’t there,” he said, pointing out the corruption and violence marring Palestinian politics. “There are all sorts of other things you need to do. You need to build up effective Palestinian governance, [but] that stuff isn’t as sexy as getting around a table and negotiating the best deal ever.”

Source: Can Trump Reset the Middle East? – Philos Project – 2/13/2017