Palestinians Warn Trump against Relocating US Embassy to Jerusalem
Dome of the Rock or Kubah Shakhrah in the Haram Ash-Sharif compound, Jerusalem.
Ramallah/Tel Aviv, 17 Rabiul Awwal 1438/17 December 2016(MINA) – The suggestion that the next US ambassador to Israel might relocate the embassy to Jerusalem roiled the region Friday as Israelis and Palestinians tried to assess the impact of such a specific, but weighty, change in US policy.
US president-elect Donald Trump named David Friedman, who has been advising him throughout the campaign, as his choice for future ambassador to Israel and touted the move as evidence of the special relationship between the US and its closest ally in the Middle East, DPA reported.
Friedman said he expected to be based in Jerusalem.
“The bond between Israel and the United States runs deep, and I will ensure there is no daylight between us when I’m President,” Trump said.
Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer, has taken a hard-line position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, going after US Jewish groups who support a two-state solution and saying he does not think Israeli settlement activity is illegal.
Trump said several times during his campaign that he would prefer a site in Jerusalem.
Israel has long considered Jerusalem to be its capital. However, since the Palestinian Authority (PA) would like to make East Jerusalem the capital of an eventual state, picking Jerusalem as the site of its embassy would be a clear signal of favouring one side over the other.
To avoid this, most countries have set up their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Serious violation
The US maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv, despite a law that has been in place for more than two decades requiring the movement of the embassy to Jerusalem. Presidents from both political parties have consistently waived the requirement every six month, claiming such a move would violate US national security interests and endanger the peace process.
Obama recently signed the waiver, making it illegal for Trump to move the embassy for at least six more months.
A Trump spokesman said the president-elect is committed to the change in US policy, but would not provide a timeline for the move.
The possibility was met with outrage by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)
“Such a step, should it happen, is a serious violation of international rights and resolutions,” PLO executive committee member Wasel Abu Yousef said about the relocation.
“This could have serious consequences, not just for the Palestine issue, but for the region as a whole.”
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment on the report.
However, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely did release a statement praising the Thursday choice of Friedman.
“His positions reflect the desire to strengthen the standing of Israel’s capital Jerusalem at this time and to underscore that the settlements have never been the true problem in the area,” she said.
But representatives from liberal Jewish organizations expressed concern.
“The position he advocates is more extreme than any government of Israel has stated,” said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, in comments carried by Haaretz.
Jacobs also pointed to comments by Friedman where the new ambassador said he would prefer for the West Bank to be annexed by Israel more than he would prefer a two-state solution.
Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of US liberal Jewish advocacy group J Street, also expressed concern, calling Friedman “anathema to values that underlie US-Israel relationship.”
Territorial control
The question of territorial control is never far from the surface between Israel and the Palestinians. The state of Israel was carved from the territory in the years after World War II.
More and more Palestinians have been displaced in subsequent wars by the two peoples, leading to regular outbreaks of violence.
Israel claims Jerusalem as the “undivided, eternal capital of the Jewish people.” The claim extends to the Arabic east of the city, which was seized by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967.
Palestinians, by contrast, see East Jerusalem as the future capital of an independent Palestinian state. (T/R07/R01)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
