Trump’s first step – move embassy to Jerusalem


December 15, 2016
Sarah Benton


The US’s beachfront embassy in Tel Aviv (on the roof next-door is part of an exhibition called ‘Iran’). Photo by AP

Embassy move to Jerusalem a ‘priority’ for Trump, says aide

Palestinian anger as Conway confirms promises made during election campaign

By John Reed, Financial Times
December 12, 2016

An adviser to Donald Trump said on Monday that moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would be a “priority” for the president-elect, prompting an angry response from Palestinians who said such a move would violate international law.

Israel considers Jerusalem its “eternal, undivided capital”, but Palestinians regard the eastern half of the city — which was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War — to be the capital of any future Palestinian state. In an effort to avoid escalating disputes over the status of the divided city, the US and other countries keep their embassies in Tel Aviv, Israel’s business capital.

But Kellyanne Conway [above], a senior adviser to Mr Trump, said in a radio interview, that moving the American embassy was a “very big priority” for the incoming US president. “He made it very clear during the campaign,” she said.

Ms Conway told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that she had “heard him repeat it several times privately, if not publicly”.

While Mr Trump promised to move the embassy during his campaign, Ms Conway’s remarks on Monday were the first official indication from the president-elect’s team that he may do so sooner than later.

The US Congress approved the Jerusalem Embassy Act in 1995, which requires that the American embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. But successive US presidents — Democratic and Republican — have exercised a waiver delaying its implementation every six months since then on national security grounds.

If the US takes such a decision, it will not only be violating international law, but violating a unanimously respected international principle that no country can annex another’s territory by force
Mustafa Barghouti 

Official US policy is that the city’s final status can only be decided on as part of a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. The last round of peace talks between the parties collapsed in 2014.

mustafa-barghouti-bbcMustafa Barghouti is General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative (al Mubadara). He has been a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council since 2006 and is a member of the PLO Central Council

Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian politician, said he was “shocked” by Ms Conway’s comments.

“If the US takes such a decision, it will not only be violating international law, but violating a unanimously respected international principle that no country can annex another’s territory by force,” Mr Barghouti said.

It’s an excellent idea, and it’s about time
Yair Lapid, opposition Israeli politician

US diplomats and Israeli officials say that Mr Trump, like any president, would have the power to enact the embassy law simply by failing to exercise the waiver.

“It’s an excellent idea, and it’s about time,” Yair Lapid, an opposition right-of-centre Israeli politician, said when asked about the possible move. “We are sitting now in Israel’s capital [Jerusalem].”

The status quo, Mr Lapid said, was analogous to a situation in which Israel had its embassy in New York, not Washington.

Israelis and Palestinians have both been watching Mr Trump’s evolving future administration with a combination of trepidation and hope.

Many Israelis were discomfited by comments from some of the incoming president’s supporters during the campaign that they perceived to be antisemitic, but Republican presidents are generally seen as enacting policies more favourable to their country’s interests.

The Republicans’ recently rewritten platform on Israel is regarded as its most pro-Israel ever. It makes no reference to the two-state solution, which would see the creation of a Palestinian state, or to Israel’s 49-year-old occupation of Palestinian lands.

While many Palestinians are wary of Mr Trump’s remarks about Muslims, his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton was perceived by many as being biased in Israel’s favour. Some think Mr Trump could surprise them positively after eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency, during which no progress was made on advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace.

A spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, was unavailable for comment.

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