--Maariv's senior political analyst, Ben Caspit, connects between the 'Trump Declaration' and the corruption investigations Prime MInister Binyamin Netanyahu faces.*
Quote of the Day #2:
"For the first time, we are identifying daring and covert will to penetrate the centers of government. There are dangerous buds of the combining of interests between senior criminal organizations and government officials in the State of Israel. To say such a statement in public requires a foundation, and indeed, there is a foundation (of evidence). We will not allow it."
--Head of the Israel Police investigations and intelligence department, Commander Meni Yitzhaki, in his retirement speech Wednesday at the Police National Headquarters.*
Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived
Note: Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the big news on the Middle East front this week was President Trump’s “Jerusalem Proclamation,” recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announcing the start of the process to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. There have been tons of excellent (and not-so-excellent) articles on the issue. Shameless plug here for two from me:
Huffington Post 12/6: Making America’s Mideast Policy Great Again?
Times of Israel 12/6: Reflections on the Death of the Peace Process
New York Times: December 6, 2017
"Praise and Alarm from American Jews Over Trump's Jerusalem Move," APN's Debra
DeLee quoted in a story about US Jewish reactions to Trump's move on Jerusalem.
ABC (Australia): December 7, 2017
"'The worst thing he could have done': Middle East peace advocate," APN's Debra
Shushan interviewed on Australian radio and TV regarding Trump's Jerusalem decisions. Listen to the radio
interview here.
Cleveland Jewish News (JTA story): December 4, 2017
"Jared Kushner talks about his peace plan, and leaves everyone guessing," APN
criticizes the administration for not offering a conflict-ending horizon to Israelis and Palestinians.
From Peace Now:
The recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in the current context, is a unilateral step undermining the
chances for peace. The US has given up on its position as an honest broker that can help Israel and the Palestinian
achieve peace, and Israel has lost the best ally it could have for that role. Jerusalem is no more “united” after
the recognition and its status is as disputed as ever.
The only way to make Jerusalem universally recognized as the legitimate capital of Israel is through a two states
agreement in which the Palestinians establish their own capital (Al-Quds) in east Jerusalem side by side with
Israel’s Yerushalayim in west Jerusalem.
Join APN for a briefing call on Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and its
repercussions with Ambassador Jacob (Jake) Walles, Former US Consul General to Jerusalem.
Listen here
Donald Trump today sabotaged decades of American efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. By announcing
his disastrous new policy on Jerusalem, he is causing severe damage to the prospects of Middle East peace,
imperiling lives, and degrading US leadership.
Defying the counsel of America's top diplomats and security experts, as well as the urging of US regional and
international allies, Trump decided to put politics before policy, to cater to domestic extremists in his political
base, and to toss a match into the most combustible place on earth: the holy city of Jerusalem. Trump's
irresponsible action has further eroded American prestige and influence in the international arena.
--Yedioth columnist Aviad Kleinberg on the expected unilateral declaration by US President Donald Trump that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
Americans for Peace Now strongly opposes any move by the Trump Administration to alter
longstanding US policy on Jerusalem outside the context of a peace agreement between Israel and the
Palestinians. Here is what you need to know:
- 1. President Trump made a landmark announcement on Jerusalem on December 6th.
President Trump did two things in his speech: he reversed 70 years of American policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and he announced plans to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
- 2. Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, without any acknowledgment of Palestinian claims to Jerusalem, is the root of the problem.
Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. But the timing of international, and particularly American,
recognition of this matters – as do the particular borders of Jerusalem that are recognized. The reason is that
Palestinians also have legitimate claims to Jerusalem as the capital of their eventual state and any realistic
peace plan includes at least some portion of East Jerusalem as that capital.
Moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, in the absence of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, recognizes Israeli claims to Jerusalem while giving the Palestinians nothing. And timing matters. Trump’s impending announcement is occurring as Congress prepares to cut, through the Taylor Force Act, aid that would benefit the Palestinian Authority, and following Trump’s near-decision to close the PLO mission to Washington. (Since Trump's announcement, PA President Mahmoud Abbas recalled Palestinian diplomats in protest.) Adding to that, US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and/or relocation of the US embassy creates a “triple whammy” against the Palestinians. It will severely damage American credibility as an honest broker of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and in foreign policy more broadly. So much for President Trump’s avowed desire to make the “ultimate deal.”