Today’s Top Stories
1. As expected, President Donald Trump reversed US policy and recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, setting in motion the process of relocating the US embassy from Tel Aviv. Here’s the speech (video or transcript) as well as the text of the official proclamation Trump signed if you want to judge the president’s words for yourself. More at the Times of Israel and New York Times.
2. White House officials acknowledged to CNN that Trump’s move could cause a “derailment — temporary” in peace efforts. Concerned for international backlash and the security of its diplomatic missions, the US asked Israel to temper its response to the Jerusalem recognition, according to State Department documents seen by Reuters. Foggy Bottom also set up an emergency task force to deal with potential fallout.
Meanwhile, clashes and scuffles broke out in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. Police were widely deployed throughout Jerusalem, but “As of Thursday morning, the army had not called up reserve units, which would have indicated an expectation of greater violence,” the Times of Israel reported.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
3. Will other countries follow the US lead and move their embassies to Jerusalem too? Israeli officials believe The Philippines, Czech Republic and Hungary may be next.
4. Trump’s Embassy Move: Behind the Hysteria: Forget the media frenzy. Here are the basic facts you need to know.
5. Trump Jerusalem Declaration: Media Muck Ups: On a day the US addressed the realities of Jerusalem, journalists didn’t.
6. Trump’s Jerusalem Embassy Move: Legal? Dangerous? Or Justified? HR’s Daniel Pomerantz discussed the latest developments with i24 News.
Israel and the Palestinians
• UN Security Council to hold emergency session on Jerusalem.
• Experts ask: What’s Trump’s endgame?
• Worth reading: The New York Times examines why the rallying cry of Jerusalem in the Arab world has lost its force.
While Arab leaders have continued to pay lip service to the Palestinian cause, it has slipped in importance, displaced by the Arab Spring uprisings, the wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, the threat of the Islamic State, and the contest between Saudi Arabia and Iran for regional dominance. Persian Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, more concerned about their rivalry with Iran, have found their interests increasingly overlapping with those of Israel.
• Because the embassy move isn’t a religious issue, I think CNN missed the mark in a background video that puts too much emphasis on Jerusalem’s holy sites.
• In Jerusalem, they projected the US flag onto the walls of the Old City. In the West Bank and Gaza, they burned the stars and stripes. The Jerusalem Post rounded up reactions from the Arab world while the New York Times rounded up American Jewish reactions. The “Strings Bridge” at Jerusalem’s entrance has its own unique beauty when lit up too.
Chords Bridge in #Jerusalem, tonight, in the colors of US and Israel flags. The city of Jerusalem is thankful for #JerusalemEmbassy speech. pic.twitter.com/LzqT8lgGLe
— Tzippy Yarom-Diskind ? صِپورة (@zpyarom) December 6, 2017
• Exactly where in Jerusalem might the US embassy go? The Washington Post looks at a few locations, none of which are in my neighborhood . . .
• Mullahs provoking Muslims and inflaming regional tensions warn that Trump’s Jerusalem move will provoke Muslims and inflame tensions.
• Hours after Trump’s announcement, a man holding Palestinian flag smashed the windows of an Amsterdam kosher restaurant. The incident, including the delayed reaction of the police officers was caught on security video.
Other News
• Argentina judge orders arrest of ex-president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner over Iran cover-up.
An Argentine judge on Thursday ordered the arrest of the country’s former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner for allegedly covering up Iranian involvement in a 1994 bombing at a Buenos Aires Jewish center that left 85 people dead.
Judge Claudio Bonadio accused Kirchner of the crime of treason as he asked lawmakers to remove the immunity from prosecution she has as a senator.
• Palestinians banned “Justice League” from Ramallah over Gal Gadot. The ban will presumably extend to other Palestinian cities as well.
Commentary
• When the PA and Hamas schedule “days of rage” ahead of time, threaten violence and let kids out of school to show up at clashes, the popular protests aren’t “spontaneous.”
• Plenty of spilled ink and burnt pixels on Jerusalem’s capital status . . .
– President Reuven Rivlin: Thank you, President Trump
– Elliott Abrams: Bravo, President Trump, for standing up to Palestinian blackmail on Jerusalem
– Eli Lake: Trump’s move frees Palestinians to focus on peace, not Jerusalem
– Einat Wilf: Finally, a President Who Looks at Jerusalem Logically
– Stephen Pollard: Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem makes neither political nor diplomatic sense
– Shadi Hamid: The Jerusalem announcement won’t really hurt America’s Arab alliances
– Yonah Jeremy Bob: Legal limbo: Jerusalem is yours, except, perhaps, parts that might not be
– Chemi Shalev: Trump’s Jerusalem gesture is tainted by his overall record of recklessness
– Prince El-Hassan Bin Talal: Trump’s Jerusalem move plays politics with international law – and our lives
– Benny Avni: The president just called the world’s bluff on Jerusalem
– David Horovitz: While endorsing Israeli Jerusalem, Trump doesn’t rule out any of Abbas’s demands
– Thomas Friedman: Trump, Israel and the art of the giveaway
– Raphael Ahren: If I recognize thee, O Jerusalem: What Trump’s move means for the region
– Ron Kampeas: Trump’s Jerusalem announcement is a big deal that may not actually change much
– John Podhoretz: Trump’s truth-telling on Jerusalem marks an all-new Middle East
– Gerald Steinberg: Trump’s Jerusalem proclamation is long overdue
– Daniel Kurtzer: Jerusalem embassy move has zero upside for America
– Peter Beinart: Trump’s Jerusalem plan is a deadly provocation
– Zev Chafets: Donald Trump’s Jerusalem move hints at new realities of Middle East
– Alan Dershowitz: Why Trump is right in recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
– Prof. Abraham Ben-Zvi: Trump’s watershed moment
– Muhammad Shehada: Palestinian rage won’t turn into a Third Intifada
– Amos Harel: Jerusalem recognition could spark widespread Arab unrest – this time, with no end in sight
– Bassam Tawil: The real Palestinian response to Trump’s Jerusalem speech
• Plenty of staff editorials weighing in.
– Washington Post: Trump’s Jerusalem move is a big risk
– Wall St. Journal: The reality of Jerusalem (click via Twitter)
– Times of London: Holy an divided
– Daily Telegraph: Donald Trump must now focus on getting new Israel-Palestine peace talks off the ground
– Globe & Mail: In Jerusalem, Trump made a capital mistake
– New York Post: Democratic nay-sayers on Trump’s Jerusalem move are outright hypocrites
• For a sense of what the Israel-bashers are saying, see also more critical takes from Hussein Ibish, Daoud Kuttab, MJ Rosenberg, Richard Spencer, and Ian Black.
Featured image: Nati Shohat/ Flash90; Kirchner CC BY-NC-SA Bernardo Londoy; Tower of David CC BY-SA Yair Aronshtam; newspapers CC0 Pixabay;
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