US President-elect Donald Trump suddenly announced on Sunday that he had appointed Lebanese-American businessman Massad Boulos as his Middle East advisor. Le Point magazine was able to contact him to provide his analysis of the major crises shaking the Middle East in an interview summarized by Armin Arifi for the magazine.

Before getting into the meat of the interview, the French magazine mentioned that Massad Boulos (53 years old) is a Republican who made his fortune selling cars in Nigeria, and was pushed into Trump's inner circle because he is the father of Michael Boulos, one of the US president's sons-in-law who married Tiffany Trump, one of the president-elect's daughters, in 2022.

Boulos expressed his honor at the appointment and being part of Trump's team, but at the same time he pointed out that working in a region that has been suffering for some time is a great responsibility. He explained that his vision is to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East, and that he has 4 years in which he hopes to achieve something sustainable for the future and future generations.

The advisor noted the agreement concluded a week ago between Lebanon and Israel with the contribution of the United States and France, saying that it is very comprehensive and covers all the necessary points, and deals with the entire country, with the disarmament of all armed groups, militias and paramilitary groups.

Lebanon and Hezbollah's weapons

When asked about Hezbollah's right to possess weapons and how to actually disarm them, Trump's son-in-law said that 70% of strategic weapons, missile depots and drones were destroyed during the war, and that the Lebanese army is the one that must disarm the militias and paramilitary groups.

Paul explained that the ceasefire agreement gives the Lebanese army full freedom to begin implementation, and according to the text it is also responsible for controlling the flow of weapons coming from the Syrian border, Beirut airport and the capital's port, all of which are now under its control.

The American advisor was not surprised by the violations committed by the Israeli army of the agreement, and said that the other party is doing the same thing, and there is a 60-day trial period, and that the agreement speaks of the right of each party to defend itself.

Boulos believed that what is important in this agreement is the monitoring committee responsible for its implementation, and that the United States and France must verify that all its details are actually implemented, noting that the implementation of Resolution 1701 was not done at all when it was adopted in 2006, because there was no mechanism to ensure its implementation, and this is a mistake that was corrected under this agreement.

Boulos did not show any desire to rush the election of a president for Lebanon despite the passage of two years since the crisis, but rather said that the representatives can wait two or three months until the matter is done as part of a comprehensive deal.

The advisor did not show any desire to rush the election of a president for Lebanon despite the passage of two years since the crisis, and said that the representatives can wait two or three months until the matter is done as part of a comprehensive deal, which includes all the reforms necessary to rebuild Lebanon and its judicial and security institutions, respect democracy and the Lebanese constitution, in addition to implementing the ceasefire agreement, creating a specific vision for the Council of Ministers, and ensuring the representation of the opposition, which today constitutes nearly half of Parliament.

Masoud Boulos refused to give his opinion on what the United States wants regarding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying that the matter is very complicated in Syria because events are happening very quickly and can change from one hour to the next, stressing that Turkey, Russia, the United States and other countries in the region, including Iran, will have roles to play, preferring not to go into details at the present time.

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When asked about the ultimatum that Trump gave to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza to release the Israeli detainees, Masoud Boulos said that the president had become clear to him that there was no longer any reason to delay the release of the detainees because the war was practically over, and therefore Trump believes that the detainees should be released immediately and their fate should not be linked to other issues related to the next day in Gaza.

The priority for the Abraham Accords

Asked about linking the hostage issue to the ceasefire in Gaza, the adviser said that there would be a temporary ceasefire to release the detainees, explaining that the main lines of the agreement had already been determined and only very small details remained regarding a few names and the number of Palestinians to be released, and the duration of the exchanges.

While confirming that the guns have fallen silent in Gaza, the American adviser acknowledged that northern Gaza is still completely besieged by the Israeli army, stressing that the agreement falls within the framework of a temporary ceasefire.

When asked about the possibility of the Trump administration supporting Israel’s full and simple annexation of the West Bank, Mas’ad Boulos said that President Trump has not yet addressed these issues publicly, and said, “What I can tell you is that as of January 20, there will be a very clear and precise policy on this issue, and we all have to respect it.”

Pauls announced Washington's readiness to conduct serious negotiations with the current Iranian regime on three important points in his view: preventing the possession of nuclear capabilities at all, the issue of ballistic missiles, and finally Iran's agents in the region, whether in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, or Yemen.

Regarding the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state, Trump's advisor said that the roadmap that will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state represents an important part of the discussions between the United States and Saudi Arabia, adding that the plan proposed by Trump in 2020 (the deal of the century) spoke very clearly about a possible Palestinian state.

As for today - Kamal says the advisor - the president's priority is to resume discussions on the Abraham Accords with Saudi Arabia first, because once an agreement is reached with it, there will be at least 12 Arab countries ready to immediately follow suit.

As for Iran, Massad Boulos says that Trump is clear that he absolutely does not want Tehran to have a nuclear program, and he will exert "maximum pressure" on it, and this has already begun, and Iran has already begun to change its policies in the region, and we saw this in the agreement concluded in Lebanon, and we are observing it today in Syria.

Trump did not talk about changing the regime, and he announced his readiness to conduct serious negotiations with the current regime on 3 important points in his view: preventing the possession of nuclear capabilities at all, the issue of ballistic missiles, and finally Iran's agents in the region, whether in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq or Yemen.

Source: Le Point