Will Trump Officially Recognize Jerusalem as Israel's True Capital? - Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick -
President Donald Trump is considering recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a move that could upend decades of American policy and ratchet up Middle East tensions, but is expected to again delay his campaign promise to move the U.S. Embassy there, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
After months of intense White House deliberations, Trump is likely to make an announcement next week that seeks to strike a balance between domestic political demands and geopolitical pressures over an issue at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict-the status of Jerusalem, home to sites holy to the Jewish, Muslim and Christian religions.
Trump is weighing a plan under which he would declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel, the officials said, deviating from White House predecessors who have insisted that it is a matter that must be decided in peace negotiations.
The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and the international community does not recognize Israel's claim on the entire city.
Such a move by Trump, which could be carried out through a presidential statement or speech, would anger the Palestinians as well as the broader Arab World and likely undermine the Trump administration's fledgling effort to restart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
It could, however, help satisfy the pro-Israel, right-wing base that helped him win the presidency and also please the Israeli government, a close U.S. ally.
Trump is likely to continue his predecessors' policy of signing a six-month waiver overriding a 1995 law requiring that the U.S. Embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the officials said.
But among the options under consideration is for Trump to order his aides to develop a longer-term plan for the embassy's relocation to make clear his intent to do so eventually, according to one of the officials.
However, the U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cautioned that the plan has yet to be finalized and Trump could still alter parts of it.
"No decision has been made on that matter yet," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Thursday.
Campaign Pledge
Trump pledged on the presidential campaign trail last year that he would move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
But Trump in June waived the requirement, saying he wanted to "maximize the chances" for a peace push led by his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.
Those efforts have made little if any progress.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the major stumbling blocks in achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it, a move not recognized internationally.
Palestinian leaders, Arab governments and Western allies have long urged Trump not to proceed with the embassy relocation, which would go against decades of U.S. policy by granting de facto U.S. recognition of Israel's claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital.
However, if Trump decides to declare Jerusalem as Israel's capital, even without ordering an embassy move, it would be certain to spark an international uproar.
A key question would be whether such a declaration would be enshrined as a formal presidential action or simply be a symbolic statement by Trump.
Some of Trump's top aides have privately pushed for him to keep his campaign promise to satisfy a range of supporters, including evangelical Christians, while others have warned of the potential damage to U.S. relations with Muslim countries.
Trump and Israel: True Love or Biblical Obligation? - Oliver Melnick - http://www.newantisemitism.com/antisemitism/trump-and-israel-true-love-or-biblical-obligation
After less than a year in office, Donald Trump has done more to restore America's relationship with Israel than in the 8 years of the previous administration. These days, supporting Israel is a dangerous proposition for anybody from governments to institutions, to organizations all the way down to individuals. Over the last few decades, Israel has become a pariah state in the Middle East and much of the rest of the world. Supporting the Jewish State is often seen as racist or colonizing.
Lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians appears as the Holy Grail of global diplomacy. There hasn't been a US President since the rebirth of modern Israel in May of 1948 that hasn't endeavored to bring peace between Israelis and Arabs in the volatile Middle East. They all tried different methods, and they all pretty much failed, even if some degree of success was attained, like the Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel under Jimmy Carter.
Donald Trump is probably the most controversial and the most vocal President in the history of the United States. We are even seeing more polarization in America than what we experienced under the Obama administration. Yet in spite of all this, Mr. Trump remains a strong supporter of Israel in many ways, while still seeking to remain an influence on a Middle East peace process, if at all possible. Amazingly, over 75% of US Jews did not vote for nor support Mr. Trump. Here are a few of Mr. Trump's recent moves related to Israel:
* In May 2017, within months of his inauguration, President Trump visited Israel, making him the first sitting US President coming to the Old City and the Western Wall.
* Donald Trump made a campaign promise to move the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Receiving a lot of criticism, He has moved away from that promise since, but just re-affirmed the US desire to move forward with the historic move.
* In a joint press conference at the White House in February 2017-less than a month after taking office, Mr. Trump declare that he was opened to both a One-State solution and a Two-State solution, depending on what both sides agree upon. In other words, possibly for the first time since the re-birth of Israel in 1948, a US President is not trying to force an agenda on Israel as much as he is trying to find a viable solution for both sides.
* President-Elect Trump nominated South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to be the 29th US Ambassador to the United Nations, and Miss Haley has proven to be a very vocal supporter of Israel. As a governor, she was the first to pass an anti-BDS law in the state of South Carolina.
* Mr. Trump is also talking to Mahmoud Abbas about peace in the Middle East. Originally, Mr. Trump on his first ever phone call to Abbas, and within minutes invited him to Washington D.C. Mahmoud Abbas appeared interested in moving forward, at least in his speech, but his actions thereafter didn't really matched his words.
* Possibly as a result of Mr. Abbas' incitement against Israel, Mr. Trump spoke about closing the Palestinian Liberation Organization's office in Washington. It hasn't happened yet and it might remain open with "limitations," if the Palestinian Authority isn't being honest.
At first glance, some would accuse Mr. Trump of favoritism towards Israel, maybe blaming the fact that some of his family members are Jewish. But there might be another reason why the current US President shows so much support for the Jewish State, and that one has a biblical foundation. Vice-President Mike Pence has been very open about his beliefs. As an evangelical Christian, he understands that the Bible is replete with positive references about Israel and Jerusalem. Is it possible that Mr. Pence's biblical worldview might be influencing President Trump? I am not implying that America has now turned into a country led by evangelicals, but what if, for the first time in decades, there was a strong biblical influence in the White House? Some even believe that President Trump has become an evangelical Christian himself.
One doesn't need to be a supporter or opponent of the Trump administration to admit that Israel is very important to our current President. Is it true love or biblical obligation? as we can read in the Abrahamic Covenant of Genesis 12:3 "I will bless those who bless you, I will curse him who curses you," God made a covenant with Abraham promising to bless those who bless his descendants through Isaac and Jacob and the twelve tribes of Israel, i.e.: The Jewish people. If indeed, Mr. Trump chooses to align his foreign policy towards Israel with biblical truth, he is fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant. Time will tell how God will bless Mr. Trump and even America, but the biblical promise of blessings received for blessing Israel eternally stands. Thank you, Mr. Trump!
Jerusalem Is About to Become a Cup of Trembling as Trump Considers Historic Move - http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=1818
Is President Trump about to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel? If so, this would be one of the most historic events to happen in the Middle East in a very long time.
Needless to say, the government of Israel would be absolutely thrilled by such a move, while the Palestinians and Israel's neighbors would not be pleased at all.
In fact, some Palestinians have suggested that if the Trump administration actually moves the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem that it could spark widespread violence or even war.
But Donald Trump promised that he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel during the campaign, and it looks like he intends to keep his word...
A senior U.S. administration official said on Thursday that President Donald Trump is considering recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel without moving the embassy to the Israeli capital, at least for the time being.
Trump wants the recognition of Jerusalem to be a gift to Israel on the occasion of its 70th Independence Day, and he may even announce this recognition by means of a statement to be made by Vice President Mike Pence, who will visit Israel in December.
Pence will be visiting Israel next month, and he is scheduled to deliver an address to the Knesset. If the Trump administration is going to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, it is believed that it may happen at that time.
Israel became a nation in 1948, and so 2018 will be Israel's 70th anniversary. There will be independence celebrations throughout the year, and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital as we approach this highly significant time would be considered a great gift to the Jewish people.
For the moment, however, the Trump administration will not be moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. The White House recognizes that such a move could spark violence in the region, and so administration officials are treading carefully...
President Donald Trump and his senior aides are mulling a plan to eventually move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a decision that could derail Trump's attempts to restart peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
A leading option under consideration: temporarily keeping the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv while also outlining a longer-term strategy to begin the process of moving the embassy to Jerusalem, according to two administration officials. The plan is meant to strike a middle ground on the politically treacherous issue.
We shall see how this plays out, but Vice-President Mike Pence sure sounds optimistic that moving the embassy will actually happen. Earlier this week, he posted the following message on Twitter...
While for the past 20 years, Congress and successive administrations have expressed a willingness to move our embassy, @POTUS Trump is actively considering when and how to move the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. #70toIsraelUN
Of course moving the embassy would have very serious ramifications, and without a doubt many those surrounding Trump are advising against such a move...
American intelligence circles may caution Trump against the move, warning of the security-related ramifications that could ensue and danger that it could pose to American embassies around the world.
Rumors of Trump's planned announcement were met with warnings from Jordan's King Abdullah II, who said during a visit to the US that "the transfer of the American embassy to Jerusalem at this stage will have repercussions in the Palestinian, Arab and Islamic scene."
I will be even more blunt. If the U.S. embassy is moved to Jerusalem, there will definitely be violence, and it could potentially move us closer to armed conflict in the Middle East.
But U.S. policy should never be dictated by threats of violence. Moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem is the right thing to do, and we cannot allow anyone to intimidate us. In 1995, Congress passed a law that requires the U.S. embassy to be moved to Jerusalem, but ever since then presidents have used "waivers" to delay the move.
The current "waiver" expires on December 1st, and Trump is expected to sign another one at that time.
But even if the U.S. embassy is not moved to Jerusalem any time soon, the truth is that the next major war in the Middle East seems to be getting closer with each passing day. Just check out some of the things that have happened over the past week...
-Saudi Arabia just intercepted another ballistic missile that was fired from Yemen. The civil war in Yemen is essentially a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the Saudis hold the Iranians directly responsible whenever a missile is fired toward their territory.
-China has announced that they will be sending "elite troops" into Syria to fight alongside the Syrian army in the ongoing civil war that is raging there.
-Just a few days ago, the Pentagon acknowledged that there are approximately 2,000 U.S. troops currently in Syria working with forces that would like to overthrow the Syrian government.
The Middle East is a tinderbox that could literally erupt at any moment. Most Americans have absolutely no idea how close we are to a major regional war, and let us pray that one does not happen any time soon.
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