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Breaking: Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital Isn’t the End of the World
Remember way back to 10 days ago when scrapping Net Neutrality was The End of the World? That was until last weekend when the GOP tax reform bill was Literally The End Of The World. Nevermind. Today, President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is Really, Totally, and Literally The End of the World.
Left unmentioned is that Jerusalem has been the real, total, and literal capital of Israel since its foundation; the US merely accepted that fact today. Way back in 1995, the US Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which said the same but allowed presidents to delay implementation via six-month waivers, which they have done ever since.
Presidential candidates of both parties have long publically supported Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In 2008, Barack Obama said, “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.” When running for the Senate, Hillary Clinton said, “you can be sure that I will be an active, committed advocate for a strong and secure Israel, able to live in peace with its neighbors, with the United States Embassy located in its capital, Jerusalem.”
So, why the outrage from the political and diplomatic class in the US and around the world? Because a president actually fulfilled this common-sense, bipartisan promise instead of lying about it for several more decades.
As Erick Erickson said, it’s “funny to see all the people who’ve been calling Donald Trump a ‘Nazi’ are livid he’d affirm Israel’s capital as Jerusalem.”
Published in Foreign Policy
The Erick Erickson quote is cute. This is a very good day for President Trump, US integrity, and, of course, for Israel.
The Palestinians may well rename today as Nakba Day, but the real disaster is of their own making. They never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity, as has been said before (by Abba Eban first, about the Arabs in general). History has moved on without them. The Sunni countries in the region have far more to fear from Iran and ISIS and know well that Israel is a better ally than enemy in that fight.
The question that pops into my head is “Why now?”
I’ve said it before and will say it again:
Trump is both stubborn and shameless; that’s bad in that he can’t be talked out of doing bad things, but good in that he can’t be talked out of good things, either.
This is an example of the latter.
Good for Trump.
Because things are shifting rapidly in the Mideast, and so why not now, after a delay in 6-month increments for the past 22 years?We now have a president who is seeking to fulfill his campaign promises.
I can imagine President DJT sitting there with advisors and asking, “so what has changed as a result of all these years of dilly dallying?” Answer: nothing much, just 8 years of sucking up to the Iranians who have Israel in its sights, etc.
Peace process? Laughable. He decides to support our ally, in a most visible and tangible way, to signal the new administration is not the old administration and it sure as heck isn’t the Hillary administration.
Oh, they say, the Muslim world and Arab street will be furious, will riot and go on rampages. DJT says, “and that is new how?”
Time for the Palestinians to get serious or be left behind.
(Just thought of an added benefit, for those who think DJT plays multi-dimensional chess – – – this move will so outrage Foggy Bottom that to some extent with resignations etc., the swamp may well partially clear itself. Heh.)
There will never be a “good” time to do this., so might as well do it now and move on. If Islamists want to throw a tantrum, well, they’d throw one about something else anyway.
Why not “Why not now”?
I find the hair pulling on this issue fascinating, in that I really don’t care nor do I care and I don’t understand why other people care.
At the risk of being flippant, this is a bit of a water is wet issue. If Israel says its capital is there I guess its there. I guess you can say its not and …. I dunno.
This really is a very big deal, and Trump deserves credit for doing it, and doing it with speed and decisiveness. Today’s announcement caught the normally-outraged world very much off balance.
This move makes peace FAR more likely than before; when Palestinian Arabs acknowledge that Israel is not going anywhere, they can move on with their lives.
Perception is reality. The admitted perception of the United States that Israel’s capital is Jerusalem, creates a reality in the eyes of the State Department, and many observers and players around the world.
If not now, when?
You’re not “questioning the timing,” are you Fred? An oldie but a goodie.
Why not now? Is it ever a bad time to do the right thing?
Once again I’ll say it, I don’t like Mr. Trump personally. He is not welcome on my deck. But I DO like almost all of his actions as President (I’m excluding tweeting as an ‘action’, sue me). So, since I place way more emphasis on substance than form, if I can’t have both, I’ll gladly take actions which move the Ship of State at least toward the correct heading over those designed to sink her though the capn’ speaks with honeyed tongue.
awkwitcherbellyachin (only kidding, keep posting, I just might learn something).
Now is always the best time to acknowledge reality.
I’d have thought a libertarian would like letting another country decide it’s capital.
Not you though. Wonder why?
Of course it’s not the end of the world. The tax bill was the end of the world, we’re just waiting for everything to finally end.
President Trump’s appropriate decision comes at an appropriate time on the Jewish calendar.
Trump is someone who says “Why not now”?
I think I will frame this for my office wall. Love it!
The cynical might suggest:
http://www.smh.com.au/world/donald-trumps-deutsche-bank-records-said-to-be-subpoenaed-by-robert-mueller-20171205-gzzg6e.html
Because, unfortunately, we didn’t do it yesterday.
I’m not sure there’s a libertarian position one way or the other on something like that.
Hey, if Donald Trump wants to build a new embassy in Jerusalem, doesn’t that constitute a settlement? Uh-oh.
Yeah, right! Because before the Deutschebank story, things were going so smoothly for Trump! Why, he could do no wrong, he was universally adored! Be a shame if the latest ping from Mueller’s bee bee gun dented the slavish shield of approbation erected by the media! (BTW, there was no subpoena.)
I don’t know….I keep,hearing Reagan’s voice:
“If not us, who?
If not now, when?”
Maybe they will go a little smoother for him now?
(Do I hear an Inshallah?!!)
What is your point? This latest comment seems to be directly contradicting your first comment. Did he take this action to distract from the unrelenting attacks on him–or because he knew it would increase them?
Or is it just that everything he does must have some disreputable, self-serving motive? Never mind, of course that’s it
Actually, there are lots of people who believe that this particular development may literally be the beginning of the End of the World. Zachariah 12:9.
Half the people were exiled but half the people were not? Sounds like the Palestinians!!! I love this stuff…prophecy may, or may not, be as literal as a cookbook. Who knows?
That was my initial thought. However, I’m not sure the timeline works.
We only found out about that this week. Appearently it took the Trump ppl by surprise.
I read somewhere (I can’t cite it at the moment) that last week the State Dept told US embassies to prepare for violent protests this week. To me, that points to the decision being made last week.
Also, the reason this is happening this week is because it’s the latest expiration of the waiver on moving the embassy.
That latter datum alone doesn’t mean Trump didn’t pull the trigger on this because of Deutche. It could be a tool he had in the box waiting for the right moment.
The more I’ve thought about it, the more I see a pattern. There’s a bunch of things a president has to periodically sign off on. This waiver is a good example. Certifying Iranian compliance with the Iran nuke deal is another.
Maybe these things come up, and for Trump they’re like ripping a scab off. So it’s a fresh issue to be dealt with. Or maybe it just irks him. And he doesn’t like signing off on things if he thinks he can “fix” them.
If so, someone should take a look at the other stuff a president has to cyclically sign off on. It might yield some interesting results.
I love how nothing Trump does can be right for some people. Says a lot about the people saying it.
And, abandoning libertarian principles to score points against Trump is part for the course.
What libertarian principle do you think is being abandoned?
That of letting another nation decide where its capital is. Self determination and all that.
But hey, if you want to abandon your values to make a point against Trump, more power to you.