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Trump Israel Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 06, 2017 31 Comments
Donald Trump is set to give a speech later today recognizing that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, which of course it is. According to reports based on news pool briefings by the White House, Trump will not declare Jerusalem the "united and undivided" capital of Israel, which is how Israelis refer to it. Rather, Trump will leave open that the parties could, as part of a final peace settlement, provide for some part of Jerusalem to serve as the capital of a Palestinian state or political entity.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 01, 2017 8 Comments
During the campaign and transition, Donald Trump was clear in his promise to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, Israel's capital. As with prior administrations, there was walk-back in reality, and the Embassy still is in Tel Aviv. In the past week there has been much speculation that an announcement about moving the Embassy was near, but that speculation was denied by the administration.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 25, 2017 18 Comments
If history proves one thing, it's that giving in to Palestinian threats only leads to intransigence and more threats. Unfortunately, for the second time the Trump administration has walked back an announced policy in just such a circumstance. The first walk back had to do with moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which is Israel's capital. That was a core Trump campaign promise, reiterated during the transition. As Prof. Miriam Elman explained in a prior post, locating the Embassy in Jerusalem would have a profoundly positive impact on the prospects for peace, since it would signal that Arab and Muslim threats of violence against the Jewish presence in Jerusalem would be futile, Move U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, for peace sake:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 18, 2017 27 Comments
The Trump administration is planning multi-year peace effort, Michael Wilner at the Jerusalem Post reports:
Deadlines are not a part of President Donald Trump's peace effort, led by Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, and Jason Greenblatt, the US special representative for international negotiations. These two refuse to bind themselves in timetables as they prepare what they describe as an "architecture" for their upcoming initiative.
While details are not known, there appears to be a lot of jockeying going on to set the proper conditions to overcome historical Palestinian intransigence.

Posted by Miriam Elman on July 09, 2017 8 Comments
In dozens of posts we’ve highlighted how the anti-Zionist, non-Jewish group "Jewish Voice for Peace" (JVP) enables, legitimizes and mainstreams antisemitism by providing a seemingly Jewish cover for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and similar movements. But JVP isn't merely an enabler of antisemitism. JVP also itself is a producer of anti-Jewish animus.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 23, 2017 4 Comments
President Donald Trump finished his trip to Israel by meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem and the Israel Museum. During his first day, Trump "pledged to work toward Israeli-Palestinain peace," but admitted it's the "toughest deal of all." However, he assured Netanyahu "that the U.S. wants Israel to have peace."

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 22, 2017 9 Comments
President Donald Trump has arrived in Israel, which he will visit for two days. In fact, his flight to Israel from Saudi Arabia is the first non-stop flight between the two countries that have no diplomatic ties. We will publish updates on Trump's visit, a truly historic one since Israel remains our most important ally in the Middle East. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nechama and Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife Sara greeted Trump and First Lady Melania Trump as the two descended from Air Force One.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 21, 2017 26 Comments
Donald Trump will be leaving Saudi Arabia overnight (Eastern time) and flying directly to Israel. That direct flight itself is historic, since the Saudis do not allow flights directly to or from Israel. One of his first stops in Israel will be the Western Wall, the holiest place at which Jews are permitted to pray. The holiest place is the Temple Mount. As Prof. Miriam Elman has explained, Jews are not permitted to pray on the Temple Mount, where conquest mosques and monuments have been built on top of the ancient Jewish Temples. That prohibition is both theological and geo-political.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 15, 2017 9 Comments
The press conference is now over. Video below. Quick Takes: Much warmer relationship than the tense Obama-Bibi appearances, where they could hardly contain their disdain for each other. Substantively, Trump did exactly what any good mediator would do -- not try to impose a solution on the parties. His point was that whatever form a peace deal takes that is acceptable to the parties, it's acceptable to him.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 26, 2017 25 Comments
Legal Insurrection readers will recall that during its last few hours, the Obama administration sent $221 million to the Palestinian Authority that GOP members of Congress had been blocking. Team Trump has now frozen those monies.
The Trump administration has informed the Palestinian Authority that it is freezing the transfer of $221 million which was quietly authorized by the Obama administration in its final hours on January 20, a senior Palestinian source has told The Times of Israel.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 24, 2017 33 Comments
Donald Trump repeatedly promised to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel's capital, Jerusalem. That promise was made not only during the campaign, but after the election. In response, the Palestinians did what they always do -- internationalize the conflict coupled with threats of violence. Numerous high officials in the Palestinian Authority issued increasingly vitriolic threats and attempts to turn the Embassy move into an act against Islam. We explored these threats and strategy in prior posts: In light of these threats, I asked Will Trump capitulate to Palestinian threats over U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem?:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 22, 2017 21 Comments
Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Despite reports that an announcement could come as soon as Monday morning, January 23, 2017, The White House says it is still in the early stages of discussions:
The White House said on Sunday that it is only in the early stages of talks to fulfill President Donald Trump's pledge to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an action that would likely spark anger in the Arab world.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 15, 2017 34 Comments
We have covered the escalating threats from leaders of and functionaries in the Palestinian Authority that there will be violence if the Donald Trump fulfills his promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Israel's capital, Jerusalem. This is a two-faced move, Palestinian leadership’s two-faced Jerusalem Embassy game:
We reported the other day on the escalating campaign by Palestinian leaders threatening and predicting violence if the U.S. moves our embassy to Jerusalem, Palestinian leadership: There will be violence if U.S. moves Embassy to Jerusalem.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 09, 2017 10 Comments
We reported the other day on the escalating campaign by Palestinian leaders threatening and predicting violence if the U.S. moves our embassy to Jerusalem, Palestinian leadership: There will be violence if U.S. moves Embassy to Jerusalem. While Hamas is behind some of the incitement, an important feature of incitement regarding the Embassy is manufactured by the Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, through Mosques run by Imams loyal to the PA. Leaders, such as Mahmoud Abbas, then use the violence they are instigating behind-the-scenes to warn that an Embassy move might inspire violence. The Times of Israel reports Top PA imam: Moving US embassy to Jerusalem a ‘declaration of war’ on Islam:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 03, 2017 28 Comments
Donald Trump has promised, both himself and through surrogates, to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. That move, long promised by American presidents but never implemented, would have particular importance in light of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which the Obama administration pushed behind the scenes and allowed to pass by abstaining. That Resolution purports to declare illegal the Jewish presence even in place such as the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, which was captured by Jordan after Israel declared independence, and then ethnically cleansed of Jews. That ethnic cleansing of Jew along with ransacking and destruction of Jewish religious places, even cemeteries, was remedied when Israel recaptured the area in 1967 after Jordan attacked Israel in support of Egypt and Syria. Israel also recaptured the Western Wall, the holiest place in Judaism at which Jews are permitted to pray. The UN Resolution declares Israeli control over the Western Wall illegal as well.
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