Posted on 12/08/2017 2:20:41 PM PST by Eddie01
Donald Trump's formal recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, reversing some seven decades of American policy, is arguably the most unnecessary decision of his time in office and one that will have consequences lingering far past his tenure. The decision may yield some domestic political advantage among Jewish and evangelical Christian voters for the president, but at irrationally high expense globally.
Jerusalem is where Israel's president presides, and where the parliament, supreme court, and most government ministries are located. In practical terms, it is the capital. However, unlike in nearly every other nation, the United States maintains its formal embassy in another city, Tel Aviv. It keeps a consulate in West Jerusalem and a consular annex in East Jerusalem, the part of the city annexed by Israel in 1967 and expected by many Palestinians to be the capital of their future state. Washington also has an office directly on the Green Line, the division point between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Diplomats, as well as Israeli officials, understand normally an embassy is the head office located in the capital, and a consulate is a less important branch located elsewhere. But they also know from experience in Israel which door to knock on when they need to get business done, regardless of what the nameplate reads out front.
This kind of thing is not unique to Israel. A similar system in Taiwan has kept the peace there.
In 1979 the United States recognized the reality of the People's Republic of China, with Beijing as its capital, and shifted formal relations from Taiwan. Instead of an embassy in Taipei, the United States established the American Institute in Taiwan. An actual registered non-governmental organization, the Institute benefits from the Department of State providing "a large part of funding and guidance in its operations," never mind the entire staff. Yet there is no ambassador at the Institute; the chief representative is called the director. A whole sitcom worth of diplomatic parlor tricks keeps the enterprise in Taipei not an embassy of the United States.
That all allows Washington, Taipei and Beijing to focus on the practical work of relations without having to address the never-gonna-resolve-it-in-our-lifetimes geopolitical questions first. That's why these things matter. That's why Trump's decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocate the embassy pulls down the curtain, turns on the lights, and spray-paints day-glo yellow the 500-pound gorilla in the room.
In the case of the United States and Jerusalem, the kabuki which has maintained the status quo is the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. Under the act, the American headquarters stayed in Tel Aviv, business was done as needed, and everyone with a hand in the complex politics of the Middle East could look whichever way best fit their needs.
That law did require the United States to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem by 1999, but a politically expedient loophole allowed presidents to issue a waiver of the requirement every six months for national security reasons, thereby preventing Congress from exercising its power to withhold half the funds appropriated to the State Department for overseas building operations if the deadline wasn't met.
Trump reluctantly issued the waiver a few months ago and then again just after announcing his recognition of Jerusalem, giving the State Department some bureaucratic breathing room on the funding issue while he plans to build a new structure somewhere in Jerusalem – a project that could take years.
The Jerusalem Embassy Act was a practical solution, not a failed plan that did not lead to formal peace between the Palestinians and Israel as Trump characterized it. The shadowplay status of Jerusalem worked.
No more. Trump's action demands all players set aside whatever other issues they have in Israel, not the least of which is the Palestinian peace process, and instead take a stand on America's changed position.
Trump’s decision has provoked a global uproar, with world leaders criticizing the move as irresponsible and dangerous. Of immediate concern is America's relationship with Jordan. Jordan has thrown in heavily with the United States, allowing its territory to be used as an entry point into Syria for American aid. The United States and Jordan broadly have a robust and multi-layered security arrangement, working well together in the war on Islamic State. It has been a steady relationship, albeit one often based on personal ties more than formal agreements, according to several American diplomats I spoke with.
Yet following Trump's announcement, Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned of "dangerous repercussions on the stability and security of the region." The issue of Jerusalem runs deep in Jordan: it was Abdullah's father, King Hussein, who lost East Jerusalem to Israel in the 1967 war, and Abdullah himself, under a 2013 agreement between Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, is the custodian of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. American diplomats working in Amman will find every facet of the relationship colored and their skills tested — no Arab ruler can be seen being publicly pushed around, perhaps humiliated, by the United States.
A second blow could come in Washington's relationship with Egypt. More so than Jordan, Egypt's rulers must act in awareness of public opinion, with memories of the Arab Spring still fresh. In response to Trump's announcement, Egyptian parliamentarians called for a boycott of American products, including weapons purchases. Egypt is also no stranger to the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism, and one Egyptian minister warned Trump's decision would shift focus from fighting terrorists to inflaming them. The role Jerusalem plays in the radical Islamic canon cannot be over-estimated. And all of this comes at a sensitive time: Cairo just reached a preliminary agreement to allow Russian military jets to use Egyptian airspace and bases for the first time since 1973.
In the coming days there will be violence and protests. But long after the tear gas clears, American diplomats will find themselves hamstrung — entering negotiations on a full range of issues having to first somehow address the action taken by Trump. This is not an unnecessarily bombastic tweet that runs off the bottom of the page, or a crude remark which fades with the next news cycle: this time, the president overturned a working policy and the effects will resonate long after he leaves the White House.
Peter Van Buren, a 24-year State Department veteran, is the author of "We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People."
Waiting for Trump to tweet “Unlike the previous president, I’m not afraid to call a spade a spade - Jerusalem is the capital, the law says we are supposed to move the embassy - so that is it.”
>>Trump should have gone the extra step and actually moved the Embassy.
It could have been done instantly. Just change the name of our Consulate General in Jerusalem to “Embassy”.
(and that of our office in Tel Aviv to “Consulate General”)<<
Of course he could have, but I believe he will make the move when he judges it to be most advantageous to America and to Israel. In other words, when he chooses to demonstrate once again that he will not be dictated to by tyranny of the weak.
Clinton, GWB, and President Zero all said that Jerusalem was the Capital of Israel.
But, when DJT says the same thing, all hell breaks loose. Disgusting.
Read again who the author is. He is not a rep of the Japanese government.
>>It was a slow frog boil of the west.
Trump just turned the burner off.<<
For over 20 years this Palestinian nonsense has been caused by the tyranny of the weak. Well, the weak are no longer calling the shots. Thank you Mr. President!
>> Most nations and people, being weak, just try to avoid it.<<
The tyranny of the weak is the cause of an increasingly dangerous world.
It is exactly this sort of idiot thinking that has kept the Middle East a mess.
The Palestinians are nothing, and we do not a sh*t give if they are in an uproar. Same goes for their supporter Euroweenies in Europe who can't even run their own countries properly.
Nobody who is worth a sh*t cares about this. Only bureaucrats and losers care about this. How about just going with the Truth?
Jerusalem is the Capitol of Israel, and our Embassy to that nation should be located there, and to h3ll with what anyone else thinks about it, especially the Diplomats who can't solve any problems.
What does a Japan care?
Lots of can-kicking on this one. Thankfully we now have a President who understands how the American form of government works and will force the implementation.
On a related side-note, just think if Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell had included a clause in the various strongly-worded Obamacare repeals that allowed the President to delay the actual repeal every 6 months.
Someone write that boy and tell him America First.
That was my point of posting.
To note Japan is running anti-American propaganda.
Why would they do that with NK pointing weapons at them?
Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result, is the definition of insanity.
Keeping Jerusalem “on the table” for negotiations because the Paleostinians will have a $hit-fit otherwise has produced exactly NO BENEFIT for as long as it has been tried. All that has EVER happened is that Israelis, Americans or other Westerners, armed with notions like fairness and decency, have wracked their brains and expended considerable effort to devise a wide variety of peace plans...and then the Palestinians inevitably say, “No!” Hell, Bill Clinton even got the Israelis to agree to hand over 96% of Judea and Samaria, plus half of Jerusalem, and Arafag said, “No!” No one was more shocked than Bill Clinton at this, BTW.
Well, it is long past time to try something different. Israel has had its capitol in West Jerusalem since 1948. It’s people have had Jerusalem as their physical capitol for 1,000 years, and its spiritual capitol for 3,000. Israel, when forced to act to defend its very existence, took Jerusalem back from the then-latest occupier (Jordan), and (rightfully, IMHO) annexed the whole thing...while still giving every other religion the right to worship there. Israel has the most sophisticated and powerful military for at least a 1,000 mile radius, and possibly more, and several hundred deliverable nuclear weapons. The bare naked fact is that Israel has every reason to keep Jerusalem, and the means to do so against all comers.
The Fakestinians, OTOH, are a “people” that did not exist prior to being created about 70 years ago. Jerusalem was NEVER their capitol - not physically or spiritually - nor was it the capitol of any Moslem government that occupied it for over 1,000 years. They have NOTHING...except rage and terrorism.
What Trump did was to recognize reality, that’s all. He still explicitly left it to the parties to decide...but any realist knows that the decision has been made by facts on the ground and history.
This writer is delusional.
Yes a country that only allowed 3 or so muslim refugees in.
Peter Van Buren - like decades of failed State Department policy in refusing to come to terms with reality brought Middle East peace closer.
All President Trump did was accept a fact every one ostensibly knows to be true - Israel’s capital is Jerusalem.
If that’s true, why is every one upset about it?
Opposing evil men usually requires a sacrifice. Talk to our WW II vets about this.
“Peter Van Buren, a 24-year State Department veteran” = PhD in blather.
I seriously doubt that American diplomats will find themselves hamstrung. American diplomats find themselves hamstrung now, as they have been for the past twenty years.
After a few days of mindless and pointless rage, we will be over this bump in the road, and on our way to a meaningful peace plan.
For one, the players in the failed peace process will be able to count on the word of Donald Trump, unlike previous administrations who were not dependable in keeping promises. President Trump has a reputation of being correct, consistent, and reliable.
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