Trump Arab aide meets with settler leader in bid to lift his standing with Israeli right
Arab and Mideast affairs adviser Massad Boulos expresses hopes for peace in meeting with Samaria Regional Council head, who says, ‘God sent us to work together’
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s Arab and Mideast affairs adviser Massad Boulos met with a settler leader over the weekend, apparently as part of a broader attempt to boost his image among the Israeli right.
Boulos was one of Trump’s first appointments after his election — a demonstration of gratitude after the Lebanon-born businessman was credited with playing an integral role in rallying Arab Americans behind Trump during the presidential campaign.
Boulos’s background drew some alarm among the Israeli far right, who also pointed to his comments backing Trump’s 2020 peace plan, which envisioned the establishment of a Palestinian state — albeit semi-contiguous and sub-sovereign.
In a meeting last week with the leaders of an Israeli think tank, Boulos reportedly maintained that his views on Israel have been misunderstood and that he deeply supports the Jewish state’s security, as well as Trump’s Gaza takeover plan.
Over the weekend, Boulos also met with Samaria Regional Council chair Yossi Dagan, whom he called “the governor of Samaria” — the biblical name for the northern part of the West Bank.
“It’s a big pleasure and an honor to have met you. I would like to convey through you my heartfelt appreciation to the people of Samaria and our brothers and sisters in the region — in Israel, in Lebanon, and in the entire region,” Boulos said in a video posted on Sunday by Dagan — one of the most hardline Israeli settler leaders in the West Bank.
In a surprising meeting Samaria Governor Yossi Dagan met with Massad Boulos, president Trump’s Lebanese born advisor. Meeting was very cordial and the two expressed their desire for peace. pic.twitter.com/0zj27hJqTn
— Robert Rabil (@robertgrabil) March 9, 2025
“We are looking forward to peace, and we are aiming for peace. By the grace of God, this will be achieved hopefully soon,” added Boulos, whose son Michael is married to Trump’s daughter Tiffany.
“God sent us to work together,” Dagan can be heard saying in response.
Despite his title, Boulos has had limited involvement in the administration’s Mideast policy, according to sources familiar with the matter. Even the Lebanon file has gone to deputy Mideast envoy Morgan Ortagus, and not Boulos, who was born there and has ties with various political factions in the country.
Earlier Monday, the Semafor news site reported that Trump is set to name Boulos as his special envoy for the Great Lakes region in East Africa.
The Israeli right has been buoyed by Trump’s return to office, viewing his policies as more favorable to those under his predecessor, Joe Biden. In January, right-wing politicians praised the president’s executive order to cancel a Biden administration-era system set up to sanction Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians.
The far-right was also emboldened when Trump tapped former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee to be his ambassador to Israel, in one of his first nominations in the week after the election. A longtime advocate of the settlement movement, Huckabee said in November that Trump could support Israel annexing the West Bank.
