In a recent interview with an American news outlet, one of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' senior advisors said that Abbas was willing to relaunch peace talks with Israel without preconditions and temporarily forgo his demand that Israel freeze all construction beyond the Green Line before negotiations begin. The Abbas advisor also said that the PA intended to dial back its international campaign against Israel and temporarily refrain from boycotting Israeli products from the settlements or demanding that Israeli military officials and politicians be brought to trial. But unsurprisingly, after the interview was published, officials in Ramallah rushed to issue a categorical denial. The thing is, the message in the interview wasn't intended for either Palestinians or Israelis. The news from Ramallah was aimed at the White House, and sought to please the Trump administration, and possibly even woo it through a demonstration of moderation and willingness to compromise. Unlike former President Barack Obama, President Donald Trump does not care about the U.N. or Europe, and neither does his State Department. Trump feels under no obligation, and doesn't identify with or have any particular empathy for Palestinian issues. He is also unwilling to accept double talk: condemnations of terrorism alongside incitement to hatred and armed struggle against Israel, and providing terrorists and their families with stipends. Trump wants to strike a deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians as part of a broader regional deal. And as we learned from the Qatar case, anyone who gets in his way could pay a heavy price. The Palestinians are concerned that Trump will leave them out of the picture and present them with a done deal hammered out from understandings reached with Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. This is what led to the onslaught of smiles and good will from Ramallah. Mixing it up with Trump isn't a good idea, and the president's willingness to promote a regional peace deal was a boon for Abbas that brought the PA leader back to life and made him newly relevant. But the Middle East is the Middle East. Abbas has to worry about public opinion among his constituency, so the interview was given in English to an American news outlet, and then immediately denied by Ramallah as if it never existed. Thus, the Palestinians kill two birds with one stone: the advisor's statements reached the White House, and Abbas keeps up a "strong stance" for the Palestinians. This latest episode teaches us what to expect from the negotiations to come -- one step forward and two steps back, one message to the Americans, another to Israel, and a completely different one for the Palestinian public. So peace is still a long way away.
