DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 23

people.” 
When initially asked 
if he was interested in 
an ambassadorial post, 
Rakolta told the Trump 
administration he only 
would consider a stimulating 
assignment where his service 
and personal involvement 
would make a difference. A 
ceremonial posting — in a 
country such as Switzerland 
or Iceland — wouldn’t 
qualify.
To represent the U.S. in 
an Arab nation or Israel, 
by contrast, would demand 
every bit of discretion, 
energy, charm, business 
experience and problem-
solving talent at his 
command. 
“I have a lot of Jewish 
friends and a lot of Arab 
friends in the Detroit area,” 
he said. “I’ve always tried 
to be in the middle — and 
never could understand 
what was preventing a 
comprehensive peace.”
The long delay gaining 
confirmation, Rakolta 
said, came with a “silver 
lining”: more than a year to 
prepare. He read, studied 
and attended more than a 
hundred briefings about 
the Middle East and related 
subjects given by the State 
Department, think tanks and 
others.
In June of 2019, the Trump 
administration announced 
what became known as 
“the Deal of the Century,” a 
Middle East peace initiative 
conceived in part by the 
president’s son-in-law, 
Jared Kushner. Ultimately, 
Kushner’s peace proposal 
was rejected by Palestinians 
and some West Bank settlers. 
Israeli Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu, who 
had accepted the deal, 

subsequently announced a 
plan to annex portions of 
the West Bank. Earlier, the 
U.S. had announced the 
move of the U.S. embassy 
to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, 
prompting predictions of 
renewed tension and possibly 
violence.
Clearly, Trump and the 
U.S. needed ingenuity 
to reignite diplomatic 
momentum.
After arriving in the 
UAE in September 2019 

and absorbing as much as 
possible, Rakolta visited 
Washington a few months 
later. He reported to Trump 
that the Emiratis — citizens 
of the seven Gulf States 
including Abu Dhabi and 
Dubai — were looking to 
the U.S. to restore the trust 
they felt was broken when 
the administration of Barack 
Obama signed a nuclear 
agreement with Iran.
On top of disappointment 
and fear over the rising 
threat from Iran, the 
Emiratis hadn’t forgotten 
“the Arab Spring” of political 
unrest across the Arab 
world that unfolded during 
Obama’s term in office. 
Among flare-ups in Tunisia, 
Yemen, Libya, Syria and 
elsewhere was the overthrow 
in 2011 of Egyptian president 
and longtime U.S. ally 
Hosni Mubarak. Regional 
leaders recoiled at the U.S. 
willingness to abandon 
Mubarak, despite the charge 

of critics that he ruled as a 
corrupt dictator during his 
30 years in office.
The UAE became an 
independent nation in 1971 
and thus is only slightly 
younger than Israel. For 
years, the two nations have 
maintained a muted, low-
level, informal relationship. 
“Israel has technology, 
which the Emiratis need to 
transform their economy 
away from oil,” said Rakolta. 
“The UAE has lots of capital, 

which the Israelis need. 
Already you can see Israeli 
produce in the markets here. 
The hotels are full of Israeli 
tourists.”
Just as the Moroccans 
received U.S. support for 
continued sovereignty over 
Western Sahara, the Emiratis 
received something they 
wanted: Congressional 
approval for cutting-edge 
F-35 fighter jets — an 
approval that would have 
been more difficult if the 
Israelis had objected. Also 
this month, the U.S. removed 
Sudan from its list of state 
sponsors of terrorism, shortly 
after the country agreed to 
recognize Israel.

PALESTINIAN QUESTION
One fly in the ointment — 
and it remains a big one — is 
the politically unresolved 
future of Palestinians living 
in Israel’s West Bank and 
Gaza. 
 King Salman of Saudi 

Arabia — another economy 
transitioning away from oil 
dependence — has been 
a principal sponsor of 
Palestinian aspirations, while 
his son and crown prince, 
Mohammed bin-Salman, is 
quoted saying that Israel is 
entitled to exist in peace.
“I believe if you go through 
the U.S. and Israel you will 
find a lot of sympathy for the 
Palestinians,” said Rakolta, 
“There are people who are 
willing to sit down and 
negotiate a very favorable 
deal with the Palestinians” 
for statehood.
By contrast, Rakolta said, 
the violence and destruction 
that have characterized 
conflict resolution in failed 
Arab polities like Lebanon, 
Gaza, Yemen and Syria — 
“That’s what Iran has been 
selling,” he said.
With the Biden 
administration about 
to replace Trump’s in 
Washington, Fischer, the 
founder of the Suburban 
Collection of car dealerships, 
and Rakolta soon will return 
home. Their businesses have 
been operated in the interim 
by their families.
What’s next for both men? 
Neither has decided. Fischer, 
whose friendships and 
appreciation for the Jewish 
state and its supporters date 
back “decades,” will fly to 
Israel and dedicate a forest 
near Jerusalem with David 
Friedman, U.S. ambassador 
to Israel.
Whatever the next chapter 
looks like for each ambas-
sador, neither is likely to 
compare in momentousness 
with a hands-on, successful 
pursuit of Middle East peace 
— a chance to play a role in 
history — on behalf of the 
nation. 

“WE DIDN’T COME HERE 
EXPECTING TO PARTICIPATE 

IN A PEACE PROCESS.”

— DAVID FISCHER