Trump to Announce US Embassy Move in Israel to Jerusalem?
by Stephen Lendman
Jerusalem is an international city under a UN protectorate. No nation recognizing Israel has its embassy there for obvious reasons.
America would be the only one if Trump makes the move - violating international law, creating a regional firestorm, thumbing his nose at Palestinians and Muslims worldwide, making Israeli/Palestinian peace more impossible to achieve than already, driving a stake through the process, killing it henceforth.
On June 30, 1980, Security Council members unanimously passed Resolution 476 (America abstaining), declaring “all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant (Fourth Geneva) violation.”
Israel claiming the city, “complete and united, as (its) capital” has no legal standing. East Jerusalem is illegally occupied territory.
So is historic Palestine, a separate issue, Palestinians willing to settle for 22% of their original homeland.
Israel wants Judea and Samaria for Jews alone, other than isolated bantustans for Palestinians - open-air prisons like Gaza.
According to Israel news channel Hadashot, Trump is “days away” from announcing the move of America’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“(T)here is a very high expectation” that Trump will “formally (recognize) Jerusalem as the capital of Israel…instructing his team to actively prepare to move the (US) embassy” to the city, Hadashot reported.
In 1995, the US Jerusalem Embassy Law was enacted, authorizing relocation of America’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem - never implemented so far.
Will Trump be the first US president to unacceptably go where all other nations recognizing Israel refused to locate their embassies?
Since 1998, US administrations rejected moving America’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Section 7 of the Jerusalem Embassy Act grants presidents the right to “suspend the limitations set forth in section 3(b) for a period of six months if he determines and reports to Congress in advance that such suspension is necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States.”
Presidents can continue suspending the move for additional six-month periods - to protect national security interests.
The Clintons, Bush/Cheney and Obama took this option. Will Trump be the first US president to go the other way, causing world outrage if so?
The Hadashot report came a day after Pence said he’s “actively considering” the move.
There’s no word from Israel or Washington on this very sensitive issue. A regional firestorm is virtually certain if Trump dares go this far - assuring greater worldwide outrage against him than already.
A Final Comment
The White House called the reported US embassy move to Jerusalem “premature.” We have nothing to announce,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders added.
Trump has until December 4 to renew a six-month waiver on implementing the move. He last signed one on June 1. Whether he’ll do it again won’t be known until next week.
On November 30, the State Department said no move is planned. It requires Trump signing the six-month waiver by Monday to make it official.
One report said he’ll sign the waiver while recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. International law states otherwise.
VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at [email protected].
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
