The Palestinian prime minister has said it will be disastrous for his people and the world at large if President Donald Trump wins re-election next month.
Speaking remotely to European lawmakers, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the last four years of the Trump administration have greatly harmed the Palestinians.
“If we are going to live another four years with President Trump,” he said, God help us and the whole world, Shtayyeh said on Monday. The comments were posted on his Facebook page.
The Palestinians have traditionally refrained from taking an explicit public position in American presidential elections. Shtayyeh’s comments reflected the sense of desperation on the Palestinian side after a series of US moves that have left them weakened and isolated.
The Palestinians severed ties with Trump after he recognised contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in late 2017 and subsequently moved the American Embassy to the holy city.
Trump has also cut off hundreds of millions of dollars of American aid to the Palestinians, shut the Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and issued a Mideast plan this year that largely favoured Israel. The Palestinians have rejected the plan out of hand.
The Trump administration also has persuaded two Arab countries, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel and promised that other Arab nations will follow suit.