PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s recent announcement that the United States now officially recognises Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel will go down as one of the most controversial moments of his presidency, one that is not exactly lacking in them. Confirmation of the declaration’s contentiousness can be seen in its spontaneous condemnations by a wide range of politicians, statesmen and religious leaders, including, notably, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May, and Pope Francis. The move has also been criticized by major international organisations, including the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League. Unsurprisingly, Palestinians and ordinary people across the Muslim world have also reacted angrily, with protests breaking out in Lebanon, Indonesia, Turkey, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Egypt and the Palestinian territories.
The outrage is understandable. The status of the city of Jerusalem has been a sticking point between Israelis and Palestinians for decades, with both sides laying contrasting claims to ownership. On the ground, Israel would seem to have the upper hand, having seized Jerusalem’s western half during the 1948 Arab-Israel War, before taking control of the eastern part during the June 1967 Six Day War. Even so, Palestinians and others interested in a permanent peace settlement between Israelis and Palestinians have always held out hopes of the eastern half of Jerusalem eventually becoming the capital of a future Palestinian state. Much of the anger at President Trump’s declaration is precisely because it seems to have slammed the door on that prospect.
While that may be true, it must be said in President Trump’s defence that, technically speaking, his declaration does not in any way depart from established American policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or Washington’s position on the status of the city of Jerusalem, which has always been that it belongs to Israel. The Trump White House said as much in its own defence. Where Trump has broken ranks with his predecessors is in openly taking sides with Israel, thus effectively jettisoning the diplomatic neutrality that has allowed the United States to be a respected arbiter between the two parties for so long. How the Palestinians will respond to this is anyone’s guess, but the omens do not look good, especially if some of the initial anger among those living in the Palestinian territories and their sympathisers across the Arab and Muslim world is anything to go by.
That any average student of international relations could have predicted this reaction raises the question as to why, even though it must have anticipated it, the Trump White House still went ahead with the declaration. One answer is that Trump is trying to do his friend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a good turn. Incidentally, and unsurprisingly perhaps, Netanyahu was one of the few people to speak in support of the declaration as follows: “I hear voices from Europe condemning President Trump’s historic statement, but I have not heard condemnations of the rockets fired at Israel or the terrible incitement against it. I am not prepared to accept this hypocrisy.”
Furthermore, it is not implausible to surmise that President Trump might be aiming to please the hugely influential pro-Israel lobby in the country. During his presidential campaign, then candidate Trump, seeking to court the Israeli lobby, repeatedly promised to recognise Jerusalem. Following last week’s declaration, he can put that down as another promise kept. However, while President Trump may have kept his promise to an influential domestic political constituency, it remains to be seen exactly where this leaves the Palestinian peace process, or the idea of a Palestinian state with one half of Jerusalem as its capital. President Trump’s declaration is not the decisive closure that Israelis and Palestinians have long yearned for. Instead, it marks the beginning of another uncertain chapter.
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