Biden plans final Mid-East peace push but may lack leverage

Leaders will likely do little to accommodate him, take their cues from Trump: Analysts

WASHINGTON - The Biden administration will make a final push for elusive deals to end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, but Donald Trump's election may leave Washington without enough leverage to bend Israel and other regional players to its will before he becomes president.

Senior US officials who have spent months criss-crossing the Middle East for peace negotiations are now likely to face counterparts reluctant to take big steps, preferring instead to wait for Trump's inauguration in January, according to sources familiar with the matter and independent analysts.

Trump has promised to bring peace to the Middle East but has not said how. If his first term is any indication, however, he is likely to pursue a strong pro-Israel approach, going even beyond the staunch support given by President Joe Biden to Washington's top regional ally.

Ahead of a second Trump presidency, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Nov 7: "We will continue to pursue an end to the war in Gaza, an end to the war in Lebanon, the surge of humanitarian assistance, and that is our duty to pursue those policies right up until noon on Jan 20."

But with Mr Biden now a lame duck, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close Trump ally, and Arab leaders will likely do little to accommodate the Democratic President and may take their cues from his Republican successor, whose erratic first-term foreign policy kept the region on edge.