Donald Trump Follows Through on His Campaign Pledge to Israel

Trump

Trump

The New York Times has reported that President Donald J. Trump has followed through on his campaign pledge to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In Gaza, Palestinians burned pictures of President Trump, the Israeli and American flags, on Dec. 6, 2017.

Trump stated that acknowledging Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was “the right thing to do.” Decades of avoiding the fact that Jerusalem is the nation’s capital has done little to distract from the ongoing decades-long crisis in the Middle East.

The United States president also stated, “It would be folly to assume that repeating the exact same formula would now produce a different or better result.” Establishing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is the first step in creating a truce between the two rival nations, according to Trump.

Trump stated that the U.S. will agree to acknowledging a two-state solution if both sides agree with the resolution. The president requested for the advocates of acceptance to overcome the persecutors who come in the name of animosity. At the same time, Trump followed through on his campaign promise to Israel.

The New York Times reported that the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem will not occur immediately. However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the U.S. has dismantled the peace process between Israel and Palestine. The Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat requested for the world powers to abandon a two-state solution completely.

History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Several foreign ancient empires had conquered the region now known as Israel and Palestine. The area was then known as Israel and Judea.

  1. Once Imperial Rome colonized the region in 135 CE they expelled the remaining Israelites from the area by selling many of them into slavery. The Roman Empire then renamed the province Palestine.
  2. In the 7th century, the Arabian empire conquered Palestine. The surviving inhabitants converted to Muslim and assimilated into the surrounding Arab culture. However, Palestine retained Christian and Jewish minority groups. Jewish minorities were especially seen in Jerusalem.
  3. The Holy Land was ruled by several Arab empires with the exception of two periods when it was ruled by Christian Crusaders. It was then conquered by the Ottoman Empire (modern day Turkey) in 1516.
  4. Great Britain conquered Palestine during World War 1 from the Ottoman Empire.
  5. In 1917, the British promised to create a Jewish national home in the Balfour Declaration.
  6. The League of Nations then created a mandate over Palestine using the Balfour Declaration as the basis.
  7. Arab countries refused to accept an existence of Israel. The Israel-Palestine Information website reported that by May 1967, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran for Israeli shipping. They also sent the United Nations peacekeeping force home that was stationed in Sinai.
  8. Egypt formed an alliance with Syria, Iraq, and Joran and stationed a large number of their troops along the Israeli border. Diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis failed and Israel attacked in June 1967.
  9. The state of Israel then conquered the Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Sinai desert and the Gaza Strip from Egypt. The Israel-Palestine Information website reported that the Israeli attempts to return most of their territories ceased to occur at the Khartoum conference when the different parties created to come to a diplomatic resolution.

The Jerusalem Post reported that in 1995 the Jerusalem Embassy Act it was declared that the U.S. Embassy would be located in Tele-eve. In 2017 President Trump has recognized that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and will move the U.S. embassy in Israel there. Trump ordered the embassy to be moved as he followed his campaign promise to Israel.

By John A. Federico
Edited by Jeanette Smith

Sources:

The New York Times: Trump Calls Jerusalem Plan Step Toward Peace, but it puts Mideast on Edge
Israel-Palestina Informatie: The Arab-Israeli Conflict
The Jerusalem Post: TRUMP ANNOUNCES US MOVING EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM

Featured Image Courtesy of David Poe’s Flickr Page –  Creative Commons License

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