Idiocy in Israel

US President Donald Trump’s shock announcement formally recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital puts him totally at odds with previous presidents, whose policy was to seek peace between Israel and the Palestinians. It’s a serious, perhaps disastrous, move driven by an egotistic need to be popular – even at the expense of renewed war in the region.

In one stroke, the Trump administration has legitimised the 1967 annexing of Jerusalem, and Israeli settlement-building in east Jerusalem, deemed illegal under international law, and has set the US against the rest of the world.

A huge price to pay for an ego-boost.

What will happen next is predictable. Any backlash from the Palestinians will be used as evidence to support Trump’s intervention.

If you poke a cornered animal, it will lash out, since it has nothing to lose by defending itself.

By making this decision, Trump has signalled the end of the US role as mediator between Israel and Palestine. This is not a legacy of which to be proud. CAROLYN TAYLOR

Wellbank Broughty Ferry, Dundee

So Donald Trump has declared Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel.

Surely the only solution is to declare Jerusalem an international city owned and administered by the United Nations, one that is open to visitors from any country but capital to none.

It may sound like an unrealistic dream, but I am puzzled that this solution has not at least been aired by Middle East politicians. ROBERT STEWART Westknowe Gardens Rutherglen, Glasgow