Shibley Telhami
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Middle East Policy
President-elect Trump and his advisors have expressed divergent views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at different times leaving his ultimate approach murky. Meanwhile, President Obama is considering what legacy to leave for Trump towards a key U.S. ally, including whether to take any action on the conflict during his remaining weeks in office. Nonresident Senior Fellow Shibley Telhami conducted two surveys—one before and one after the U.S. elections—on American public attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Below are several key findings:
For the past year, you've seen that perhaps no leverage that the US and the West thought it had — aid, sanctions, the freezing of Afghanistan's reserves — has really had an effect on Taliban behavior. The Taliban has essentially done what they had always done. The Afghan people have been in a humanitarian crisis because the Taliban hasn't budged.