“Thank you, President Trump,” Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed, “for having the courage to keep your promises!” Netanyahu declared the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem as a “great day for Israel, a great day for America,” but also “a great day for peace.”
Trump pre-empted the praise with his own prerecorded speech for the ceremony, declaring that “it’s been a long time coming,” and “that for many years, we failed to acknowledge the obvious”:
“This city and this entire nation is a testament to the unbreakable spirit of the Jewish people,” he said. “The United States will always be a great friend of Israel.”
The president went on to express his hope for peace in the region in the video message.
“We extend a hand in friendship to Israel, to Palestinians and to all of their neighbors. May there be peace. May God bless this embassy. May God bless all who serve there, and may God bless the United States of America,” Trump said.
Netanyahu followed Trump’s presentation with a longer address, in which he also personally thanked Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Continuing on a personal reflection, Netanyahu recalled his boyhood days in this same neighborhood, long before it got built up into its modern form. He told the crowd that his mother warned him not to wander too far into the neighborhood as it sat near the green line, and its streets were exposed to sniper fire. “What a difference!” Netanyahu proclaimed:
“We are here in Jersualem,” Netanyahu declared, “and we are here to stay!” That’s been obvious for decades, even as outside militaries and terror groups have tried to push Israel off its land and out of its capital. After the 1967 war, in which Jordan and Syria both lost territory (West Bank and Golan Heights, respectively) after attempting to relieve Egypt by opening new fronts in the east, it’s been clear that Israel (a) saw that territory as a necessary buffer after three separate attempts by Arab nations to invade through them, and (b) would never go back to agreeing that Jerusalem was an “open city.” Pretending otherwise made everyone look foolish and perpetuated false hopes in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
As Jeff B noted earlier today, the most virtuous aspect of Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is the discarding of 50 years of ignoring reality:
I grudgingly hand it to Trump – never in 100yrs did I think the U.S. Israeli embassy would actually be moved to Jerusalem per his campaign promise but by gum he went and did it and demonstrated how pointless the longstanding refusal to acknowledge reality on the ground there was.
As Trump himself said, we refused to acknowledge the obvious for more than fifty years. It’s possible that this will exacerbate tensions and make peace more difficult to achieve, but … what has the fifty years of fantasy diplomacy achieved? We still have Mahmoud Abbas spouting nonsensical genealogical arguments to paint the entire state of Israel as illegitimate and no movement at all on numerous peace proposals offered by previous administrations that played along with Abbas’ nuttiness.
We’ve tried pretending for fifty years. Maybe a hard dose of reality is worth trying at this point. It certainly couldn’t do any worse.
Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. By finally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the United States has chosen fact over fiction. And fact is the only true foundation for a just and lasting peace. https://t.co/u4wNzgrYP4
And count Chuck Schumer as one of the people cheering Trump in this instance:
Schumer: In a long overdue move, we have moved our embassy to Jerusalem. Every nation should have the right to choose its capital. I sponsored legislation to do this two decades ago, and I applaud President Trump for doing it.
So when the Palestinians form their own country, they can claim Jerusalem as their capital?
The Israelis have been agreeable to the idea of a Pali capitol and embassies located in east Jerusalem. So you could see a Saudi embassy there, maybe an Egyptian one, perhaps a few others. And that would be good for the Pali civilian economy for those embassies to be located in those neighborhoods and that the area would have to be pacified in order to have to have an embassy row. And there would be more tourism for Muslims wanting to visit the Dome of the Rock and spending money there in Pali territory. Having local Muslim embassies helps encourage that tourism that would help the Palis economically.
Jerusalem is a city of three major religions. There is no reason it can't be the capitol of two states as well. This is a very ordinary negotiating point in Israel's past proposals.
And count Chuck Schumer as one of the people cheering Trump in this instance:
No surprise there. Chuckie has always put Israel first. It's what keeps getting him re-elected.
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
So when the Palestinians form their own country, they can claim Jerusalem as their capital?
Why not?
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
Trump is a disruptive actor. It is his style. And his objective is scoring a big deal, ideally a final settlement of the Israel-Pali conflict.
The time is right. The Sunnis are so scared of Iran, they are ready to throw the Palis under the bus. The Saudis have signaled this openly in just the last few weeks. And the Gulf states are on-board (other than Qatar which is getting very hard pressure from the other Gulf oil states for Qatar's limited cooperation with Iran.
The time was right for Trump to move that ball down the field. The train is leaving the station and the Palis have almost missed it. They would be wise to negotiate and settle now because their leverage is declining by the day.
Trump really reduced Pali leverage by moving this embassy. And everybody knows it.
And the game has changed. Trump changed the board. He saw opportunity and exploited it.
No surprise there. Chuckie has always put Israel first. It's what keeps getting him re-elected.
It was killing him not to be there personally to try to grab more glory for himself. It had to gall him to have to thank Trump for it though. Those had to be tough words to swallow for that schmuck. : )
And religion has been the core of the Middle East conflict. Which is why UN 181 proposed the city of Jerusalem be a corpus separatum (“separate entity”) governed by a special international administration.
That still makes sense today. With one religion claiming the city as it's capital, I predict nothing good will come of it. Would you not be concerned if the Palestinians made that claim instead of Israel?
The so-called Palestinians have always been the problem:
But, as already indicated, not only did the Palestinian leadership reject the partition plan, the Arab states and Great Britain also objected to it, although they were certainly capable of inducing the Palestinian Arabs to accept the scheme. Britain not only objected to the UN partition resolution, it also refused to help implement it or even to permit UN observers to prepare the ground for the partition - rejecting official UN requests. This British refusal was largely motivated by self-interest - to avoid damaging its relations with the Arab states that had overwhelmingly rejected the 1947 partition. Furthermore, the Arab states - and the Arab League - had, in early 1947, already started military preparations to prevent the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. In late 1947, a pan-Arab “Liberation Army,” comprising volunteers from several Arab nations and commanded by regular Arab military officers, invaded Palestine in order “to nullify the UN partition resolution, to eliminate any remains of Zionism.... and to secure the Arabness of Palestine.” Simultaneously, irregular Palestinian Arab militiamen waged armed attacks on Jewish towns, villages and inter-city traffic. The Jewish Haganah and the “Irgun” retaliated. A civil war broke out in Palestine, which turned into an Arab-Israeli war on May 14, 1948, when the creation of the State of Israel was proclaimed and several Arab armies invaded Palestine. Initially, the survival of the newly born Jewish state was in jeopardy but eventually Israel defeated the Arab armies and the Palestinian militias and occupied more land than had been allocated to it by the 1947 UN resolution.. For the Palestinian Arab community, this constituted a grave disaster (Nakba). About half of this community fled or was driven out by Israeli troops and became refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere.
And his objective is scoring a big deal, ideally a final settlement of the Israel-Pali conflict.
Right now, it looks as though if anyone can do so it will be Trump. Hell, he might get a third term to give him time to do it.
He scratched Israel's back, now it's their turn to scratch his. Withdraw from the West Bank back to the Green Line and allow the Palestinians to have their own state.
Wanna bet Israel gives Trump the same response they gave every other U.S. President -- Fuck You?
The so-called Palestinians have always been the problem:
Whoa! Hold on there Wyatt Earp.
The area of the British Mandate was known as Palestine for a reason. The vast majority of the population were Palestinians -- -- -- until the Jews started migrating in from Europe in the 40's.
Which led to a number of conflicts between the two. Which caused Britain to throw up it's hands and turn the whole thing over to the UN to split up the two sides.
That still makes sense today. With one religion claiming the city as it's capital, I predict nothing good will come of it. Would you not be concerned if the Palestinians made that claim instead of Israel?
The Palis have made exactly that claim for years. About as long as Israel has.
He scratched Israel's back, now it's their turn to scratch his. Withdraw from the West Bank back to the Green Line and allow the Palestinians to have their own state.
Trump won't even ask them for that.
Trump's main objective is just to force the Palis to the negotiating table instead of their usual announcement of non-negotiable items (including the requirement for all Jews to march into the sea and drown themselves).
Trump is ratcheting up pressure on all sides. And Kushner has the Jordanians, the Saudis and Gulf monarchs on board to pressure the Palis. And threaten to cut off funding.
The Palis chose very poorly when they started edging toward the Iranians as the new regional hegemon. It will not be forgotten by the other Arabs. Look at what they're doing to Qatar for an example.
It's all about Iran now. Nothing else matters. Palis? Piffle.
I don't see how you can possibly conclude the Palestinians were "always the problem" when it was the Jewish settlers moving into Palestine that caused the conflict. Everyone knew they couldn't live together, so UN 181 split them up.
There are no Palestinians. It is a region. Israel was willing to accept the resolution. The Arabs were not. They started war. When you lose a war, you lose territory -- mainly because you don't want to be attacked again from that territory.
Because he knows their response? The UN has been asking for that since 1967.
About as long as the U.N. has been voting constant anti-Israel resolutions. The U.N. is a declared enemy of Israel. The General Assembly is a joke and an embarrassment. Most U.N. ambassadors don't ever bother to consult their home countries about anything. They're just not important.
And offer them what? Another Oslo? Another Taba?
Their bargaining position is obviously much weaker now. The Arabs are not backing them strongly, leaving only the EU and Iran/Syria as the final holdouts.
Between America and the Gulf oil states, we can just cut off all their aid. All of it. And tell them that it is time for them to make the best deal they can and put an end to it.
The politics of the entire region has revolved around this very tiny group of people on some little thumbnail of low-value real estate. They have bigger fish to fry: Iran's rise as a regional hegemon with breakout capacity as a nuclear power. You can debate whether Iran wants to nuke Israel or the Saudis more. At present, the Iranians are paying the Houthis and supplying them with enough rockets to lob a volley of them into Saudi territory at least every few days. Israel is not similarly under attack by an Iranian proxy (yet).
Iran. Iran. Iran.
Are you getting it yet? Forget the Vermistinians. They're not important any more to any major players.
Yeah, I think about 2 million Arabs and 6 million Jews. Plus another 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank and another 2 million Palestinians in Gaza.
So, what happens if Israel annexes everything in pursuit of a single-state solution? They're outnumbered at the ballot box.
Meaning, they steal all the land and deny the Palestinians the right to vote. Yeah, that'll work.
The Israelies were willing to accept the UN resolution. So were the Palestinians. But during the war, the civilians were driven out of their homes and off their lands. Can they have those back?
The Arabs attacked the Israelies. The Jews defended themselves and seized homes and territory, increasing the amount of land given to them by UN 181.
The Jews continue to defend themselves because they continue to seize land in the West Bank, taking it away from the Palestinians contrary to UN 242 and the Geneva Convention. No wonder the Palestinians are pissed off.
It had to gall him to have to thank Trump for it though. Those had to be tough words to swallow for that schmuck. : )
Yeah,but he HAD to imply he was a part of the deal to keep the contributions and the votes rolling in.
Chuckie is nothing more than a ugly old male whore.
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
Yeah,but he HAD to imply he was a part of the deal to keep the contributions and the votes rolling in.
He was so desperate to remind people that he was an original co-sponsor of the bill during the Xlinton regime which declared US intent to move the embassy as a matter of law. To get Xlinton to sign it, Schumer did compromise then so that the embassy didn't get moved as long as the prez signed off every six months to keep the embassy in Tel Aviv. And now Trump came along and just did it.
Most leaders drift through history, little more than reactionaries. Trump intends to make history. And that is exactly what he is doing.
Turkey conquered northern Cyprus, took it for itself, then colonized the conquered territory. Kind of a replay of the Armenian holocaust. And they didn't do this in WW II but in the Seventies.
Turkey is far more a group of war criminals than Israel is. And they don't want anyone to dare mention Cyprus or the Armenians. And no one ever mentions Cyprus. Or the Armenians.
And they signed that contract to buy the S-400 missiles, which are not compatible with NATO systems. This is a clear violation of NATO treaty requirements that all members must use interoperable equipment and that they will not operate any incompatible equipment.
NATO needs to eject Turkey. They are not an ally, as they demonstrated during the Iraq invasion.
No, it is better to keep Turkey in our orbit. Kick out Turkey, and they can find an ally in Russia, and that changes the whole strategic picture, drastically, in Russia’s favor.
No, it is better to keep Turkey in our orbit. Kick out Turkey, and they can find an ally in Russia, and that changes the whole strategic picture, drastically, in Russia’s favor.
That's the threat. I don't think it could work in practice. And I don't think Incirlik is as valuable to us as it was during the Cold War.
Turkey has gone its own way, away from democracy and NATO. It's time we recognize that and act accordingly.
It's time to stop pretending that Turkey is an ally or wants to be an ally.
Meh. Saudi Arabia is an ally. Pakistan is an ally. Egypt is an ally.
Turkey isn't very cooperative. But kicking them out gives the Russians the Dardanelles and direct rail lines into the Middle East. And that's a bad thing.
So we have to tolerate Turkey, because the alternative is a grand strategic mess.
