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The biggest danger in Trump is not what he does but what he embodies
Photo: Reuters
Nahum Barnea

Which Jerusalem will Trump recognize?

Op-ed: If the US president recognizes Israel’s sovereignty in the entire city, including the Temple Mount, he will arouse the entire Muslim world's anger; if he only recognizes west Jerusalem, he will arouse the anger of the evangelical right and the Israeli government. Nevertheless, there is an opportunity here.

The balls are over; the dazzling dresses have been returned to the fashion houses with due respect; the protestors have returned to their homes, and so have the police. It’s Donald Trump’s first working days as president of the United States. It’s time to raise one of his festive election promises for discussion—the promise to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. Whereas some of his predecessors had promised to do so and did not, Trump promised to keep his promise.

 

 

The American administration’s refusal to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is a nearly 70-year-old act of foolishness. It originates in the Partition Plan of 1947, which saw Jerusalem as an international city. The War of Independence erased the partition borders and allowed David Ben-Gurion to move the state’s institutions to west Jerusalem, as befitting its status as a capital. The world grumbled, but eventually adapted: Leaders who visited Israel, including all US presidents and heads of Arab states, came to Jerusalem. They did not, however, recognize Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem.

 

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem. There is no better time than the first week of a new president’s term to create change (Photo: AFP) (צילום: AFP)
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem. There is no better time than the first week of a new president’s term to create change (Photo: AFP)

 

Israel’s governments share the guilt. They spoke pompously about Jerusalem’s importance, but were afraid to go all the way in implementing its status as a capital. Things got complicated in 1967, after Israel annexed the eastern part of the city. An overwhelming majority of the world’s countries formed a complex opinion: Israel’s sovereignty in the western part of the city was recognized de facto, but was not recognized de jure; Israel’s sovereignty in east Jerusalem was recognized neither in practice nor in law. The US ambassador held his meetings in the western part of the city, but was forbidden to visit the eastern part of the city.

 

When Menachem Begin was prime minister, he decided it was time to implement the sovereignty. He ordered the construction of his bureau in Sheikh Jarrah, in the eastern part of the city. Then he panicked and handed the bureau over to the police minister. It serves the public security minister to this very day.

 

Prime ministers, from the Left and from the Right, avoided pressing the Americans to recognize Jerusalem. On the eve of the end of his term, I asked US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ever raised the issue of moving the embassy to Jerusalem in his conversations with the Obama administration. “Not once,” he replied. Netanyahu, like his predecessors, did not want to take responsibility for the burning of embassies in the Muslim world.

 

The came the election of Trump. Every president seeks to do things differently in the beginning, but Trump wants more. He is aiming for a revolution. The fact that his predecessors avoided recognizing Jerusalem is making him do the opposite. He is raising the banner of Jerusalem: His right hand won’t forget its ability, his tongue won’t cleave to the roof of his mouth.

 

The question he hasn’t thought about is, which Jerusalem will he recognize. If he recognizes Israel’s sovereignty in all of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, he will arouse the anger of the entire Muslim world against America; if he only recognizes west Jerusalem, he will arouse the anger of the evangelical right and the Israeli government.

 

Nevertheless, there is an opportunity here. There is no better time than the first week of a new president’s term to create change. The world, including the Muslim world, is prepared to accept during this week more than it will be prepared to accept in a month or a year from now. The same applies to Israel’s supporters. Trump can announce that the embassy will be moved to west Jerusalem and leave the east Jerusalem question for the future. It’s problematic in terms of international law, but the problem is reduced compared to much worse legal problems that have emerged since Trump’s election.

 

An American embassy is not built in one day. It will take at least 10 years. In the meantime, the new ambassador will be able to use the apartment at his service in the southern wing of the David Citadel hotel, raise a large flag over it and call it “the ambassador’s residence.” That will do as a start.

 

I doubt we will derive any pleasure from the Trump administration later on. Trump’s first comments as president show that he has no intention of changing: The same tongue-lashing, the same lies, the same separatist statements threatening the world’s stability. Britain has Brexit; America has Trumpexit. At this stage, the biggest danger in Trump is not what he does, but the spirit he brings along, what he embodies. His rhetoric legitimizes anti-democratic, racist, fascist trends, both in Europe and here. It’s dangerous.

 

But he can move the embassy.

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.23.17, 18:06
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