The relationship that developed late between the administration of President Donald Trump and the Palestinian leadership came to an abrupt end after just a few months. Trump met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas four times, the first at the White House, then in Saudi Arabia and in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and the last time on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in late 2017.

Then in December 2017, Trump decided to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the US Embassy there from Tel Aviv. This move was a catastrophe for the Palestinian Authority, and the Abbas regime chose to halt all political and security contacts with Washington.

Since then, the relationship between the Palestine Liberation Organization (which remains the true power behind the Palestinian Authority) and the United States of America has returned to what it was before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, and is conducted primarily through other Arab and international parties.

At the same time, the Palestinian leadership has increased its contacts with the US Democratic...