On December 7th, 2017, APN hosted former US consul General in Jerusalem, Jacob (Jake) Walles. Ambassador Walles spoke about the repercussions of President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his decision to start preparations for transferring America’s Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Jacob Walles is a nonresident senior fellow in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on Israeli-Palestinian issues, Tunisia, and counterterrorism. Throughout his 35-year career in the foreign service, he was U.S. ambassador to Tunisia (2012 to 2015), consul general and chief of mission in Jerusalem (2005 to 2009), and served as senior adviser in the State Department's Bureau of Counterterrorism (2015 to 2017). During his long career at the State Department, Walles was actively involved in Middle East peace negotiations, beginning with the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991 and continuing through the Obama administration.

(You can also donate online and indicate "Vision of Peace" in the comments box)

Produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Legislative Round-Up was conceived

1. Bills, Resolutions & Letters
2. Hearings
3. On the Record

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.

On December 7^th, 2017, APN hosted former US consul General in Jerusalem, Jacob (Jake) Walles. Ambassador Walles spoke about the repercussions of President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his decision to start preparations for transferring America’s Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  

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