Political pundits were initially taken aback by the meeting of the Middle East Quartet — made up of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia — in Cairo on Monday. After all, the incoming US president has yet to be inaugurated, Israel is holding general elections in March that might see the downfall of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and even the Palestinians are poised to have their own elections.
But the meeting in Cairo should be seen as directly tied to these potential leadership changes. The quartet appears to be trying to prepare itself for the post-Donald Trump era, which is expected to see a number of regional changes.