Trump Delays Decision on Recognizing Jerusalem

Today’s Top Stories

1. The Trump administration is delaying a decision on relocating the US embassy to Jerusalem, despite a Monday deadline to sign a waiver. The Times of Israel talked to experts about the significance of the missed deadline. Bottom line: Don’t expect any legal consequences, but the delay could cost the president politically.

Meanwhile, Israeli security forces are on high alert. I liked CNN‘s backgrounder on why the possible move is so controversial.

2. According to Syrian reports picked up Reuters, Israel struck another Syrian military facility on Monday night.

Jamraya contains a military research facility which was hit by what was believed to have been an Israeli attack in 2013.

Judging from Reuters and SCOTUSblog coverage, the justices were quite skeptical.

4. HR Corrections: November 2017: With 20 significant media corrections during November, take a look at what you helped us achieve!

5. Watchdog of the Week: Fixing a CNN Map: Watchdog of the Week Michael Mendelsohn alerted HonestReporting to a CNN map error, resulting in a correction.

6. VIDEO: Is Europe Promoting the Next Mideast Massacre? Hezbollah is internationally recognized as a terror organization and a proxy for Iran. Yet in nearly every European country, it is free to openly raise funds and recruit followers.

Israel and the Palestinians

• So how’s the world reacting to possible US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital? Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to cut diplomatic ties with Israel if the US follows through. (One Israeli official responded to that by pointing out Jerusalem was the Jewish capital for 3,000 years.) Israeli Arab leaders threatened protests. And rattled European leaders are joining the chorus of warnings.

On the other hand, Israeli officials spoke up for the recognition, and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat filmed his own plea from outside the White House gates.

As we await a decision, share this message to @realDonaldTrump:

Do not be deterred by threats of terror; move the US embassy to Jerusalem! @USAmbIsrael pic.twitter.com/Srv32OA2N8

— Archive:Mayor Nir Barkat (@ArchiveNir) December 4, 2017

• Plenty of buzz around this New York Times report on the latest Mideast peace efforts. Unfortunately, the crux of the article is based almost entirely on secondhand anonymous accounts of Mahmoud Abbas’ version of what happened when he was urgently summoned to Riyadh:

According to Palestinian, Arab and European officials who have heard Mr. Abbas’s version of the conversation, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presented a plan that would be more tilted toward the Israelis than any ever embraced by the American government, one that presumably no Palestinian leader could ever accept.

The Palestinians would get a state of their own but only noncontiguous parts of the West Bank and only limited sovereignty over their own territory. The vast majority of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which most of the world considers illegal, would remain. The Palestinians would not be given East Jerusalem as their capital and there would be no right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

The White House on Sunday denied that was its plan, saying it was still months away from finalizing a blueprint for peace, and the Saudi government denied that it supports those positions.

That left many in Washington and the Middle East wondering whether the Saudi crown prince was quietly doing the bidding of Mr. Trump, trying to curry favor with the Americans, or freelancing in order to put pressure on the Palestinians or to make any eventual offer sound generous by comparison. Or perhaps Mr. Abbas, weakened politically at home, was sending out signals for his own purposes that he was under pressure from Riyadh.

• Jared Kushner: Israel needs peace with the Palestinians before it can form an alliance with the Arab states. Oh yeah, the president, says Kushner, still hasn’t made a decision on moving the US embassy to Jerusalem. The Washington Post writes:

President Trump’s push for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians stems from a belief that his broader goals of stopping Iranian aggression and Islamist extremism will not be possible without it, presidential adviser Jared Kushner said in a rare public appearance Sunday.

• Two Bedouin arrested over murder of IDF soldier in Arad.

• Golan ISIS threat looms large over Israel and Syrian rebels.

• Zambia is set to host the first ever Africa-Israel Summit slated for 2018 (or maybe not).

Around the World

• An alliance of dozens of European centrist political parties called for cracking down on Hezbollah activity in Europe, cutting off its finances and more.

• With Congress slashing corporate taxes, will Israeli businesses relocate to the US?

In Israel, the corporate tax rate is at 24%, with plans to go down to 23% next month. The new American rate closes the gap and supersedes Israel in offering a competitive rate, granting more incentives to reincorporate and expand operations in the United States.

• Teen facing charges in theft of Holocaust memorial sculpture in Milton, Mass.

• Court documents show Missouri man made bomb threats against local Jewish organizations

• Holocaust memorial vandalized in Athens, not the first time

• Jewish leaders are criticizing a Boston Globe cartoon of Sheldon Adelson they say used anti-Semitic images.

• Israelis told to remove Western Wall photo at Bulgaria charity event.

• Iranian hackers have set up a news outlet to court possible targets, security firm says.

A significant mainstay of the group’s activity was the establishment of a media outlet called The British News Agency. Much effort went into creating a seemingly legitimate website, including details about the agency and a contact list of the management team. The purpose of the site was to attract the targets and infect them with malware.

Commentary

• Brig.-Gen. Shachar Shohat (Res.) details the strategic threat of Iranian bases in Syria. Among the issues he raises is the opening of a western front against Israel.

From a geographical, military perspective, Iranian airbases in next door Syria would be a game changer. Presently, the Iranian enemy is located mostly to the east, and can, to a limited extent, attempt to attack from Israel’s north and south. But it cannot come from the West.

If Syria becomes home to Iranian aerial platforms, Iran could head west to the Mediterranean Sea, and then fly toward any Israeli coastal city; be it Haifa, Tel Aviv, or Ashkelon. The same holds true for Iranian drones.

This would mean opening a new western front against Israel that requires an entirely new line of defense—a front that does not exist today. Such a development would represent significant danger to Israel.

• In a lengthy interview, Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer discussed with Politico’s Susan Glasser why relocating the US embassy won’t undermine peace prospects. Dermer also discussed Syria, the Iranian nuclear deal and his dealings with the Trump transition team (possibly including Michael Flynn) and more. The full Q+A is worth listening to, or read Politico‘s summary.

• Trump and Jerusalem make for lots of spilled ink and burnt pixels . . .

– Raphael Ahren: The president’s guide to recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
– Amb. Alan Baker: 10 reasons for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
– Ben Lynfield: Arab states will likely cave if US declares Jerusalem Israel’s capital
– Aaron David Miller: Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is a dangerous gambit
– Prof. Eyal Zisser: Jerusalem is a non-issue
– Shimon Shiffer: Trump’s Jerusalem declaration could ignite a major fire
– New York Post (staff-ed) Recognizing the obvious: Jerusalem is Israel’s capital
– Moshe Arens: Israel must not divide Jerusalem
– Dan Schnur: The best thing Trump could do for Israel is grow up
– Arsen Ostrovsky: Enough is enough: Jerusalem must be recognized as Israel’s capital
– Ron Kampeas: Jared Kushner talks about his peace plan, and leaves everyone guessing
– Jennifer Rubin: Kushner has no idea what he is saying about the Middle East

• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .

– Zvi Bar’el: Alleged Israeli strike in Syria: Why Iran’s silence speaks volumes
– Seth Frantzman: Can suffering be sexy? Pitfalls in monetizing the Palestinian struggle
– Jesse Fried and Eugene Kontorovich: Anti-Israel activists subvert a scholarly group (click via Twitter)
– Nitsana Darshan-Leitner: To stop North Korea, act like Israel
– Bassam Tawil: Palestinians: More missed opportunities
– Moshe Dann: Living with the Palestinian ‘no!’
– Robin Sears: Saudis break 70 years of solidarity
– Ron Traub: South Africa and Israel: Time to set the record straight
– Orit Efraim: From Ethiopia to Israel, living the dream
– Richard Cohen: American Jews vs. Israel

Featured image: CC BY-NC Kartik Malik; Trump via YouTube/ABC News; taxes CC BY-SA 401(K) 2012; Abbas CC BY-NC-ND Cabinet Office; leopard CC BY-NC-ND gmacfadyen; Supreme Court CC BY-NC Christina B Castro; hacker CC BY Blogtrepreneur; thinking CC0 Pixabay;

For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.

Before you comment on this article, please remind yourself of our Comments Policy. Any comments deemed to be in breach of the policy will be removed at the editor’s discretion.