Trump sends message with Jerusalem move
Palestinians say it clearly shows U.S. favors Israel
President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel sends a stark message that Palestinians should abandon their all-or-nothing demands in peace talks, analysts say.
President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital sends a stark message that Palestinians should abandon their all-or-nothing demands in peace talks and applies subtle pressure on the Jewish state to make concessions, analysts said Wednesday.
Trump’s message to Palestinians in his speech can be summed up as the less you concede, the more you lose, said Eugene Kontorovich, head of international law at the Kohelet Policy Forum in Jerusalem.
“The Palestinians have learned that by saying ‘no’ they can always get something better next time,” Kontorovich said. “They have to learn that if they say no, next time they won’t get the same offer.”
The announcement fulfills the president’s campaign pledge to improve U.S. relations with Israel and move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, said Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“A strong Israel secure in its alliance with the United States will be more willing to take chances for peace,” Schanzer said. “It will be interesting to watch in the weeks and months ahead whether the Trump administration makes requests of the Israelis on other issues.”
Israel regards Jerusalem as its capital, yet the international community says the city’s status should be determined through peace talks. Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent state. Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it.
Palestinians strongly rejected the president’s move, saying it shows the U.S. sides with Israel.
“It’s over,” said Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Council. Trump’s announcement “aborted his peace process before it was born.”
Palestinians will fight back by seeking support from the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and other world bodies to isolate and weaken Israel, Barghouti said.
If Trump wanted to be fair to both sides, he would have said the Palestinians should have their capital in East Jerusalem as well, he said.
Trump’s announcement, which accompanied instructions to prepare for a lengthy move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city, gives Israel something it has long wanted.
Trump said his decision reflected reality that Jerusalem is the seat of Israel’s government, its supreme court, parliament and home to its prime minister and ceremonial president. Yet he clarified the United States is not taking a stand on key issues to be resolved in peace negotiations.
“We are not taking a position of any final status issues, including the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem or the resolution of contested borders,” Trump said. He also said the U.S. would support establishing a separate Palestinian state “if agreed to by both sides.”
Trump named his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner to work on peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, with a mandate to find new solutions to a problem that has confounded U.S. presidents for decades.
Barghouti scoffed at the notion that Israeli leaders will see Trump’s action as a signal to make concessions.
“No, it just made them more arrogant,” he said. “Now they feel they have a full green light from the president of the United States to do what they want.”
“We are not taking a position of any final status issues, including the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem.” President Trump