Former Mossad official says Trump naive about Iran, misunderstands Middle East diplomacy
The former counterterror head of the Mossad said that Trump "does not understand the terminology of the Middle East, not the dialectic, and the Iranians are teaching him a lesson in that regard.”
US President Donald Trump treats negotiations with Iran “like a bazaar,” former head of the Mossad’s counterterrorism division Oded Ailam said during an interview with 103FM on Monday morning.
“It’s hard to summarize, we are only in a pause. We have not finished anything, just as we have not finished anything in any arena, and we need to admit the truth. There are extraordinary military achievements in all arenas that are not really being translated into diplomatic achievements,” he said.
“One of the main reasons is a capricious president named Trump, who is negotiating in the Iranian bazaar. More or less, he comes in the morning to his stall, puts up a sign that says, ‘By the end of the day, I need to sell all the merchandise,’ and expects prices to go down.
"He does not understand the terminology of the Middle East, not the dialectic, and the Iranians are teaching him a lesson in that regard.”
Ailam also called on Israel to look at events taking place elsewhere in the world, noting his talk of a wall funded by Mexico, his plans to conquer Greenland, and the deadlines he has given for those issues.
“We owe this man an enormous debt, no matter what. He brought the Abraham Accords; he was the most dominant factor in the hostage deal. This man did what seven presidents before him did not do, and he attacked Iran, which absorbed heavy blows. However, we are talking here with a president who sometimes acts against his own interests and could write a glorious chapter in Barbara Tuchman’s book The March of Folly.”
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Ailam then described Israel as a limited player on the regional stage and argued that its standing is deteriorating in the face of its enemies.
“Let’s take an analogy from the World Cup: they bring up the striker Ousmane Dembélé, and the coach tells him, ‘You only shoot with your right foot and only pass backward.’ We need to get the maximum out of this. We have no say.
"Israel must sever the equation in which the Iranian lawyer tells the Lebanese client, ‘I represent you, and I don’t care what you say.’ The importance of this move was that Israel did not accept it. Israel is sending a very clear message that the key in Beirut will hang on the wall in Tehran. In that sense, the message was very sharp and clear.”
He added more about the developments taking place in Lebanon, stating that Israel’s territorial control is what has harmed Iran and Hezbollah the most.
“What worries the Iranians most is that they are seeing a process of internal disintegration begin inside Lebanon, including within the Shiite community, where people are starting to ask questions. I speak with Lebanese and follow what is happening there. We have never seen such serious doubts from all parts of the spectrum,” he said.
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