Jason Greenblatt's insider account of Trump's quest for Mideast peace
- Mike Allen, author of Axios AM
Cover: Wicked Son/Post Hill Press
Jason Greenblatt — President Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, and one of his longest-serving aides — is out with "In the Path of Abraham," an insider account of the administration's Mideast diplomacy, including the historic Abraham Accords peace agreement.
Why it matters: Greenblatt was one of the chief architects of the administration's Peace to Prosperity vision for a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, who repeatedly rejected the plan.
"Peace is a precious thing," Greenblatt writes, "and we were well on the path to achieving it in meaningful portions of the Middle East — both for Israel and a growing number of its Arab neighbors":
As history shows all too clearly, peace is often an uneasy equilibrium between wars, not an active force in its own right. ...Peace is hard, but the consequences of its alternative are harder still.
Moreover, peace doesn't come by blurring the essential differences between people or groups. Rather, it comes from bringing those differences into sharper relief, sharper focus.
Greenblatt writes that the Trump administration's approach to the Middle East "challenged the myth that America has to be an 'honest broker' — that is, indifferent to the fate of its chief ally, Israel — in negotiations with its Arab neighbors."
- Jared Kushner calls the book "a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the Trump Administration’s efforts to chart a new course for the Middle East."