What Trump's addition of Massad Boulos to Mideast team means for Israel - analysis

In the immediate aftermath of the US election, Israel-centered analysis focused on who President-elect Donald Trump would appoint to senior positions as a sign of whether Trump 2.0 on Israel would be similar to Trump 1.0. 

The consensus, of course, was that Trump’s first term was good for Israel.  The New York Times, not meaning this as praise, called Trump’s first-term policies “defiantly pro-Israel.”

Why? Because Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the US embassy there. 

He also acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, brokered the Abraham Accords, pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal and clamped heavy sanctions on the Islamic Republic, defunded UNRWA,  and declared that the settlements were not necessarily illegal.

The question was whether the past would predict the future and if Israel could expect a similar attitude from the White House as it experienced from 2017 to 2021.

Much of the answer, most concluded, would depend on the people Trump surrounded himself -- whether they shared the same pro-Israel bona fides as many in his first-term administration.

It was with no small amount of consternation, therefore, that just four days after his victory, Trump took to social media to say, rather demonstratively, that two of the most pro-Israel voices from his previous administration -- former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and ex-ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley -- would not be given posts in his new administration.

To some, this seemed a significant nod to the isolationist wing in his camp -- the Tucker Carlsons -- reassuring them that they had nothing to fear and that the foreign policies of his second term would not be the same as those of his first.

However, these concerns quickly began to evaporate when, in quick succession, he announced the appointment of Mike Waltz as his national security advisor, Marco Rubio as secretary of state, Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary, Elise Stefanik as ambassador to the UN, and Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel.

Even though he also appointed Tulsi Gabbard as head of national intelligence and Matt Gaetz as Attorney General (Gaetz later withdrew his name from consideration), both with a history of problematic statements and actions toward Israel or Jews, the newly assembled national security team seemed like a dream team for Israel.

Notably absent, however, are Jared Kushner -- expected to have an informal advisory role on Middle East policy, as opposed to the formal position he had during Trump’s first term -- and former ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who has still not been appointed to any position.

Then, on Sunday, Trump announced the appointment of Massad Boulos, the father of his son-in-law Michael Boulos, as a special Mideast envoy. This took place a day after Trump appointed Jared’s father, Charles Kushner, as ambassador to France.

From an Israel-centric point of view, Boulos’ appointment is much more significant … and possibly problematic.

Who is Boulos? 

Boulos is a Lebanese Christian billionaire who immigrated to the US as a teen and went into his parents’ lucrative automobile assembly and distribution company in Nigeria, where the family made its fortune.

His grandfather and father were involved in Lebanese politics, and his father-in-law helped fund the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party aligned with Hezbollah.

Boulos said in a recent interview that Sleiman Frangieh, a Christian politician aligned with Hezbollah and its candidate for Lebanon’s presidency, was a “friend.”

At the same time, he is also said to have maintained ties with independent Lebanese parliamentarians and is also in touch with the Lebanese Forces Party, an anti-Hezbollah Christian faction.

While AP and The New Arab reported that Boulos ran unsuccessfully for a seat in Lebanon’s parliament in 2009, he denied this in a Newsweek interview before the election.

During Trump’s presidential campaign, Boulos -- who “joined the family” when his son married Trump’s daughter in 2022 -- was the president-elect’s point man with the Arab American and Muslim communities and spearheaded the campaign’s efforts in those demographics that initially seemed quixotic but ultimately bore fruit. 

He also acted as a conduit for Palestinian leaders to Trump, delivering a letter from PA President Mahmoud Abbas to Trump wishing him well after the first assassination attempt in July and meeting Abbas in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. 

Given these credentials, it was widely expected that Bolous would receive some kind of role in the White House, though the specifics remained unclear until Sunday.

“I am proud to announce that Massad Boulos will serve as Senior Advisor to the President on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Massad is an accomplished lawyer and a highly respected leader in the business world, with extensive experience on the international scene. He has been a longtime proponent of Republican and Conservative values, an asset to my campaign, and was instrumental in building tremendous new coalitions with the Arab American Community. Massad is a dealmaker and an unwavering supporter of PEACE in the Middle East. He will be a strong advocate for the United States and its interests, and I am pleased to have him on our team!”

Capitalizing the word PEACE in this social media post is the same way he announced the appointment of another Mideast envoy three weeks ago, Jewish real estate tycoon and longtime friend Steven Witkoff.

“I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Steven C. Witkoff to be Special Envoy to the Middle East,” Trump wrote.

“Steve is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy who has made every project and community he has been involved with stronger and more prosperous. Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud.”

Witkoff, a longtime Trump friend and golfing buddy -- he was with Trump on the golf course when a second assassination attempt was foiled at Mar-a-Lago in September -- has been described as the person who served as the Trump campaign’s “back channel” to the Jewish business community during the campaign.

Witkoff was in the audience when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave his speech to Congress in July and waxed poetic about it, saying that “it felt spiritual” and that it “was epic to be in that room.”