With Trump in the Path of Abraham

As President Biden sets out for the Middle East, I’d like to think that he has read the new book by Jason Greenblatt, “In the Path of Abraham.” It is the story of how President Trump made peace in the Middle East and how Mr. Biden can stop himself from unmaking it. Alas, this is unlikely. For years now, those who have been paying attention to the never-ending Israeli-Palestinian “peace process” have sensed that the process has become more important than the peace. Diplomats, politicians, NGOs, think tank fellows, journalists, and others involved have been making appearances, money, and names for themselves but not much progress, and most of us hardly expect them to any more.That is the environment Mr. Greenblatt walked into when the then chief legal officer for the Trump Organization suddenly became an adviser on Israel to the president-elect, Donald Trump, and later a Middle East envoy tasked with creating yet another “peace plan.”Mr. Greenblatt wasn’t a known quantity in diplomatic or political circles and the word “outsider” probably doesn’t fully describe him when he first arrived in Washington, D.C. That, he says in his new book, was no deficit. It may have been his greatest asset.Brokered by the Trump administration, the Abraham Accords were signed by Israel and the United Arab Emirates in August 2020. Named for the shared Abrahamic faiths of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, the agreements normalized diplomatic relations between the two countries and opened the door to expanded economic relationships as well. Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco signed on soon thereafter. Other Arab States are expected to join as well.According to Mr. Greenblatt, the seeds of these accords were planted at a 2017 summit in Saudi Arabia planned by Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s adviser and son-in-law. The growing menace of Iran was of great concern not only to Israel, but to its Arab neighbors.President Trump spoke plainly about the threat and, according to Mr. Greenblatt, “This was not vague virtue signaling for the sake of satisfying their vanity or his. This was something different. It was a direct challenge to these Muslim-majority nations to join the United States as equal partners to confront a common foe.”No one knew yet that these seeds would grow into the Abraham Accords. Mr. Greenblatt was working tirelessly on his “Peace to Prosperity” plan between Israelis and Palestinians. While his work always included a broad focus across the region, even he was unaware that it would lay the foundation for historic agreements that would change the larger Middle East.Just as no one predicted the Abraham Accords, no one would probably have predicted that Jason Greenblatt, Orthodox Jewish lawyer from Teaneck, New Jersey, would emerge as one of its architects. Who was this man with no Ph.D. or ambassadorial post in his resume? Why him?If one were to imagine the type of person who would be the chief counsel to a real estate mogul like Donald Trump and then become a chief negotiator in one of the world’s most intractable conflicts, you might expect a brash, bombastic, cut-throat personality with unpleasant social skills. Mr. Greenblatt is the opposite. He is a soft-spoken, sincere empath who chooses his words carefully, has the gift of discernment, and practices restraint. He is also a devoted family man. He seems to mention his wife, Naomi, and his six children perhaps more than Mahmoud Abbas in a book about trying to make peace in the Middle East. He and his family appear to have logged as many hours on the road between Teaneck and Washington to spend the Sabbath and holidays together as during his shuttle diplomacy. In every part of his journey his family is with him, from Mr. Trump’s swearing-in ceremony to a meeting with the Hashemite king, Abdullah II. Like the biblical Abraham who was instructed by God in the Book of Genesis to leave his home and go where God directed him, Mr. Greenblatt seems to have had to take much of his mission on faith.As Mr. Greenblatt tells it, he was summoned to his boss’s office on a Friday for what he thought would be a conversation about the company’s transition plans before Mr. Trump took office. He was not expecting a job offer in the White House. Yet that is what he got.Before formally committing to the position, Mr. Greenblatt called a family meeting. He writes that he asked: “Is this an opportunity, a responsibility, or an obligation? After talking it over, they all agreed that it was an obligation — something I had to do.” Mr. Greenblatt certainly wouldn’t compare himself to Abraham. The title of his book surely refers to the partners in the accords themselves. Yet being “In the Path of Abraham” describes the author just as well. Mr. Greenblatt is also careful to present himself throughout his work at the White House and around the world as an observant Jew. Always aware of the interruptions and disruptions of his Orthodox lifestyle, he never suggests he would conduct his life, or his career, in any way that would compromise his religious obligations, or that he was asked to. It began with Mr. Trump, he says. “He understood that my faith was a blessing, an important part of who I was, and from all the available evidence, he valued me all the more for it.” Mr. Greenblatt tells the story of excusing himself during an important meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu to find a minyan, a prayer quorum, to recite kaddish for his late mother.Mr. Netanyahu assembled the minyan in his office, joining in the prayer, to allow Mr. Greenblatt to remain and fulfill his obligation. He was served kosher food in meetings with Muslim leaders and hung a mezuzah on his office door in the White House. He didn’t use his phone or check his emails on the Sabbath, and chose an apartment within walking distance of a synagogue. A religious Jew in a Muslim world trying to broker peace sounds like a set-up for failure. Yet, Mr. Greenblatt never saw his faith as an obstacle when communicating with Muslim leaders. At the end of the book he tells the story of an important Middle Eastern contact who phoned him moments before he was to begin saying kaddish, this time for his father. Mr. Greenblatt apologized to the caller, telling him he would have to call him back, and why. The religious Muslim on the other end of the line apologized in turn to Mr. Greenblatt for disturbing his prayers and promised to make himself available whenever Mr. Greenblatt was finished. “A respect for religion and prayer and G-d’s place in one’s life,” he writes. “Muslim or Jewish, it did not matter. We spoke the same language.” Throughout the book Mr. Greenblatt offers a model for every Jewish reader, and other religious individuals who feel an obligation to serve their country, of how to respect oneself as an observant man of faith in the world, and thereby gain the respect of others. Also reflecting Mr. Greenblatt’s character are the many mentions throughout the book of his team, Ambassador David Friedman, and Mr. Kushner. The three men “would soon form a new triumvirate of sorts, coordinating our efforts to accomplish the marching orders President-elect Trump had given us.” So, this was Jason Greenblatt, the man. The media wasn’t complimentary. The rancor aimed at his boss was unprecedented. The problem he was hired to solve seemed insoluble. And he was “just” a smart, passionate, religious, family man and loyal friend tapped to do the work. And he did it.He describes in detail the meetings, conversations, consultations, and research he immersed himself in to thoroughly study the issues and produce the best result for both Israel and the Palestinians. He was all in.Because he wasn’t part of the “system” and because he had never intended to stay in politics and make his life there, he had the freedom to assess the field and point out the obvious truths that no one in prior administrations had the courage to say aloud: that an Israeli-Palestinian peace is not the precondition for any change in relations between Israel and other countries in the region.And, importantly, that the threat of Iran had changed the priority lists of Israel’s Arab neighbors, and that an entrenched mindset disconnected from reality and wrapped in empty rhetoric was the international community’s contribution to the perpetuation of the problem. Just saying this was a seismic shift, and to be sure, lots of people invested in the old ways weren’t happy. Mr. Greenblatt understood he was being criticized, and even mocked, but was more concerned with outcomes than op-eds.“Were those experts who put our team down confusing activity with accomplishment?” he asks. “Maybe the much-vaunted ‘Peace Process’ had become a circular and cynical end in itself. Maybe we needed a different approach. And maybe — just maybe — we could succeed where others had failed.” His colleague, Ambassador David Friedman, described this new approach as a “sledgehammer” which became the title of his own book. For the soft-spoken, controlled Mr. Greenblatt, however, it was preferable to view it as a turn on the Abrahamic path to the future, though no less shattering of norms.In the end, Mr. Greenblatt wasn’t just another smart, well-intentioned guy who landed a big job. He was a principled person with deep insight, the courage to say what needed to be said and a sense of purpose that propelled him to do so.Ultimately, one can point out that the “Peace to Prosperity” plan Mr. Greenblatt authored did fail in that the Palestinians refused to entertain it. Yet, from that failure emerged two enduring successes.First, the lens through which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is seen has been fundamentally changed. Mr. Greenblatt’s plain-spoken truths about the enduring myths that generations of peace-processors perpetuated at great cost to progress can’t be unheard. Speaking those truths is the prerequisite for the creation of an honest peace between Palestinians and Israelis in the future.Second, the historic Abraham Accords themselves. They would not have been possible had the minds and hearts of three non-diplomats like Messrs. Greenblatt, Friedman, and Kushner not been applied to a region begging for change.“In The Path of Abraham” is subtitled, “How Donald Trump Made Peace in the Middle East — and How To Stop Joe Biden from Unmaking It.” An important part of the book is dedicated to discussion about the future and how the Abraham Accords can further grow.Mr. Greenblatt shares his optimism about the bipartisan Israel Relations Normalization Act of 2021, but also his deep concern about the current administration’s policies which he feels may threaten the stability of the accords.“So far, the Biden administration has made no progress whatsoever in building on the Abraham Accords, preferring instead to pursue a perilous rapprochement with Iran,” he says.Only two subjects in Greenblatt’s book evoke an uncharacteristically irascible tone: President Obama’s treatment of Israel at the end of his second term in office, and the Iran deal, which Mr. Obama created and which President Biden is currently seeking to revive.It is fascinating to note that Mr. Greenblatt, Donald Trump’s lawyer and loyal friend, worked with one of the most controversial presidents in modern history on one of the most controversial issues in world affairs and managed to remain largely whole reputationally in a way that eluded most others in the Trump orbit.Google searches of his name return some unhappy reviews of his work, but few personal attacks or even designations of the often used “right wing” label. That may be an achievement on par with the Abraham Accords and yet another signal as to why Greenblatt was able to make the lasting impact he did.Ultimately, every political cynic — even Mr. Biden — can gain wisdom getting to know Jason Greenblatt by way of this book. It turns out that sometimes the right person meets the right moment and engages it for the right reasons. When that happens, much good can result.

With Trump in the Path of Abraham

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