Washington Watch Articles From 2026
US Middle East Policies Making a Bad Situation Worse
One reason why US policy in the Middle East has been so problematic is because policymakers refuse to consider its impact on the needs of Arab people. With Israel, it’s a different story. Over-attentiveness to Israeli concerns coupled with the lack of sensitivity to what Arabs think about our actions has led to deep fractures between Arabs and the US and within the Arab World.
Ignoring Palestinian Rights Won’t Bring Peace
When President Donald Trump convened his so-called Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland, a key item on the agenda was to endorse his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s extravagant (and, I might add, detached from reality) plan for a “New Gaza.” The rendering of Kushner’s scheme shows it to be more of a luxury resort for wealthy tourists than the foundation of a just future for the Palestinian victims of Israel’s genocide. But since the raison d’être of the Board of Peace was supposed to be dealing with the aftermath of Israel’s war on Gaza, the conversation, by necessity, had to address the needs of hundreds of thousands of now-homeless Palestinians.
US Press Coverage of Gaza Continues to Be Disconnected From Realities
After more than two years of Israel’s assault on Gaza, one might think that there would be appreciable improvement in the way the Israeli/Palestinian issue is understood and presented. But US press treatment of last week’s meeting between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear we still have a long way to go.