Dan Shapiro Predicts Chaos At Trump Meeting With Bibi

By Daniel J. Solomon February 15, 2017

Dan Shapiro, former President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Israel, isn’t keeping quiet now that he’s out of office, predicting chaos as that country’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House on Wednesday.

It is, he told Politico, “an absolutely crazy time to hold a meeting with the president of the United States,” citing President Donald Trump’s Monday night sacking of national security adviser Michael Flynn, after revelations about Flynn’s contacts with Russian officials.

“It’s hard to know who is even going to brief President Trump before the meeting in the Oval Office tomorrow,” he added. Flynn had been leading arrangements for the meeting and prepping Trump for it.

Shapiro also predicted the overhaul of relations between America and Israel – moving the United States embassy to Jerusalem, allowing settlement building – wouldn’t necessarily happen anytime soon.

He said the about-face from the administration might represent an attempt to broker closer relations between Arab powers and Israel.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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