Trump Moves Embassy to Jerusalem, Violence Ensues

The Story

• Today, President Trump made good on his promise to relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, prompting massive Palestinian protests that turned deadly.
• Israeli troops shot dead at least 55 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, including several teenagers, and wounded more than 2,770 more.

Why It Matters

• In the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, many Israelis see the U.S. embassy relocation as a simple acknowledgement that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. But Palestinians, who hope to see the eastern part of Jerusalem become the capital of an eventual Palestinian state, see the move as an abandonment of whatever impartiality the United States may have harbored, and a total capitulation to Israel.
• Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called the violence a “massacre,” and asked for a new partner to step forward to replace the United States in brokering peace talks with Israel.
• Haaretz, an influential, left-wing Israeli newspaper, characterized the embassy opening ceremony as a “Messianic U.S.-Israel Axis Showcase,” and a “gut-punch for most American Jews.”
• To date, all 86 countries that have embassies in Israel locate them within Tel Aviv, so the U.S. move is a major departure from international consensus.
• Israelis who support the move still feel anxious, as tensions escalate and violence erupts.
• Meanwhile, an escalating shadow war with Iran has broken into the open, partly in response to the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement, pitting Israel against its most powerful adversary in the region.

What do you think?

Did the U.S. embassy move dangerously destabilize the region? Is the move a show of support for an American ally? Hit Take Action, then share your thoughts below.

--Sara E. Murphy