Just as political pundits of the 1970s were quick to say that only Richard Nixon could reach out to the communists of Beijing, the pundits of 2026 might say that only President Donald Trump could end the $4 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Israel.
uncertain
Trump → say → Israel
Trump made the announcement in the final days of the 2026 midterm elections.
asserted
Trump → make → elections
Some may be skeptical that the president will follow through, given his numerous past policy reversals.
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president → follow → reversals
However, if Trump’s decision leads to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political downfall, it might have been a political calculation that could bring peace to the Middle East.
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that → lead → East
That might earn Trump a Nobel Peace Prize, like Jimmy Carter.
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That → earn → Carter
Carter’s Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel also earned Nobel Peace Prizes for Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin.
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Accords → earn → Sadat
Forty-five years ago, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, an extremist organization that merged with al-Qaeda in 2001.
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that → assassinate → 2001
He had ruled Egypt since 1970.
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He → rule → 1970
After the 1973 Arab-Israeli War (The Yom Kippur War), Sadat worked to find peace with Israel.
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Sadat → work → Israel
He worked to meet the conditions of the 1974 Egypt-Israel Disengagement Agreement.
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He → work → Agreement
This Agreement, signed in Jerusalem, established a ceasefire, separated Egyptian and Israeli forces in the Sinai, and began a U.S.-mediated peace effort between the two countries, among other terms.
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Agreement → sign → terms
History records that Sadat honored the Agreement.
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Sadat → record → Agreement
In January 1979, Gerald Ford, traveling in the Middle East, accepted Sadat’s invitation to meet with him and the ailing former Shah of Iran.
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Ford → travel → Iran
This was a meaningful moment in U.S. diplomatic history, allowing Ford to thank the Shah for decades of friendly relations between Iran and the United States.
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Ford → allow → Iran
The Washington Post commended Sadat for taking “Iran’s dying shah at a time when the United States had shoved him out in the cold.”
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States → commend → cold
The Shah died in July 1980.
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Shah → die → July
After Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Sadat signed the historic 1978 Camp David Accords, mediated by President Carter at the Presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, the Egyptian president worked to bring peace to his country and the Middle East.
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president → sign → country
Sadat and Begin shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.
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Sadat → share → Prize
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger nominated Sadat for the Nobel.
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Kissinger → nominate → Nobel
Members of West Germany’s Bundestag nominated Begin and Sadat.
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Members → nominate → Begin
In 1979, Sadat and Begin signed a historic peace treaty between their two countries.
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Sadat → sign → countries
The Washington Post reported that when Sadat arrived in Jerusalem, he kissed former Prime Minister Golda Meir’s cheek and said: “I have waited a long time for this.”
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I → report → this
According to the U.S. Congressional Research Service, “Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel stands as one of the most significant diplomatic achievements for the promotion of Arab-Israeli peace.”
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treaty → accord → peace
In Cairo for Sadat’s funeral, Secretary of State Alexander Haig delivered a letter of condolence from President Ronald Reagan, who called Sadat “a champion of peace.”
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who → deliver → peace
Former President Carter told Mrs. Sadat that her husband was “like a hero” in the U.S.
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husband → tell → U.S.
Former President Ford told Mrs. Sadat, “The American people looked upon [Anwar Sadat] as a beautiful man.”
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people → tell → man
One European newspaper wrote: “No one among the statesmen of our time could less be spared” than Anwar Sadat.
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one → write → Sadat
“Sadat was a Muslim, even a devout and practicing Muslim, but he was not, in the zeal of his public actions, a Muslim recognizable as such by the jinns unleashed upon the Islamic world by the revolution in Iran,” wrote the Guardian.
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Guardian → practice → Iran
According to Merriam-Webster, a jinn is “a supernatural spirit in Arabic mythology that is made of fire or air and can assume human or animal form” and “loves to punish humans for any harm done to it.
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that → accord → it
”
Anwar Sadat played a prominent role in U.S.-Middle East relations from the 1960s to the 1980s.
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Sadat → play → 1980s
In 2026, Sadat, one of the most courageous statesmen of the latter twentieth century, remains a “beautiful man” and a “hero” to Americans, Israelis, and Arabs.
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Sadat → remain → Americans
It is far too early to compare Trump’s decision to disengage militarily from Israel to Sadat’s decisions to lay down arms and embrace peace with Israel in the 1970s.
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It → compare → 1970s
Should Trump’s decision bring peace to the Middle East, the president might be worthy of the title of Statesman, if not a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
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president → bring → Statesman
He resides in Washington, D.C.
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He → reside → Washington
The Aporia
