Trump on J’lem: ‘That city is Israel’s capital’
After 70 years, US recognizes Israeli sovereignty, to move embassy
President Donald Trump formally announced US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in a historic break from 70 years of American neutrality on the issue, and that he will instruct the State Department to move the US Embassy there.
Citing a 1995 law, the Jerusalem Embassy Act, compelling the president to make the move absent national security risks, Trump said on Wednesday that the time had come to recognize what everyone already knows to be true.
“Jerusalem is the capital the Jewish people established in ancient times,” he said. “Today, Jerusalem is the seat of Israel’s government. This is nothing more or less than a recognition of the reality.”
Trump directed the State Department to begin preparing the move, which could take years as the government decides on a location, hires architects and plans for what is sure to be a challenging security environment.
Trump made the announcement despite a fierce backlash in recent days from America’s closest allies.
European and Arab leaders alike, including from Britain, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, as well as the pope, said the US president was recklessly challenging a delicate status quo over the city, whose future, according to the international community, must be determined in direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
The Czech Republic on Wednesday followed Trump’s lead.
In a statement on its Foreign Ministry’s website, it said, “The Czech Republic currently, before the peace between Israel and Palestine is signed, recognizes Jerusalem to be in fact the capital of Israel in the borders of the demarcation line from 1967.
“The Czech Republic, together with other EU member states, following the EU Foreign Affairs Council conclusions, considers Jerusalem to be the future capital of both states, meaning the State of Israel and the future State of Palestine.”
In so doing, it took an unusual step of breaking with EU member states which hold Jerusalem should not recognized as Israel’s capital until a final-status agreement is reached.
But unlike the US, the Czech Foreign Ministry also said that it would consider relocating its embassy based only on results of negotiations.
Trump said his actions on Wednesday did not
determine the “specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty” in the city, stating those would be “subject to final-status negotiations between the parties. We want an agreement that is a great deal for the Israelis and a great deal for the Palestinians. The United States would support a two-state solution if agreed to by both sides.”
The Israeli government says Jerusalem is its undivided and eternal capital, while Palestinians insist that a peace agreement must deliver them a sovereign state with a capital of their own in the city’s eastern districts.
“We are not taking a position on any final-status issues,” the president insisted.
Trump castigated past US presidents for failing to make the move earlier “under the belief that delaying recognition of Jerusalem would advance the cause of peace” between the two sides.
“The record is in. After two decades of waivers, we are no closer to a lasting peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians,” he added.
“Old challenges demand new approaches. My announcement today marks the beginning of a new approach,” he said in his announcement from the White House diplomatic reception room.
He was flanked by Vice President Mike Pence, who has pushed for the move. Pence will be visiting Israel later this month.
A senior White House official told The Jerusalem Post that Trump’s Middle East peace team, led by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special representative for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt, was a consultative partner to the decision and fully supported the move.
“The peace team was fully aware of this and in the loop,” the official said. “Certain parties are going to react the way they need to react. We expect bumps along the way – but we believe there is an historic opportunity.”
Greenblatt wrote on Twitter that Trump’s speech was a “courageous” effort to recognize the current and historic reality of the city’s status. His team is committed to pressing on, he continued, no matter how angrily the parties might react in the short term. •