The US administration's effective peace work in Israel
The moving of the embassy not only put an end to a historic travesty but also made clear to the world something everyone anyhow already knew – Jerusalem is not for sale.
By JPOST EDITORIALUS Ambassador to Israel David Friedman(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
On May 14, 2018, the US embassy was officially inaugurated in Jerusalem, and a double standard applied to Israel in the US for 70 years finally came to an end.The moving of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem not only recognized Israel’s capital as it had seen it since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948, but also removed a myth from any future negotiating table. Jerusalem, the United States determined, was non-negotiable. It was Israel’s capital.“We were applying [until then] a double standard to Israel, relative to every other country in the world,” US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman told The Jerusalem Post last week. “We were telling Israel, you don’t have the right to choose your capital city.”That changed with the moving of the embassy even as some critics claim that beyond the symbolism of the move, it didn’t achieve much more. Other countries did not follow suit and the fact is that peace negotiations seem no farther away today than they were before.Friedman did not agree. Don’t, he said, underestimate the power of symbolism.“Americans who support Israel understand the significance of Jerusalem,” he said. “It’s what the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial, Plymouth Rock and Valley Forge are. We understand symbols are more than symbols. Every nation that made a mark on this world stood for something. Nations that stand for something stand for deep historic principles. Because America was founded on those types of principles, Americans profoundly understand the importance of Jerusalem to the State of Israel.”We agree. The moving of the embassy not only put an end to a historic travesty but also made clear to the world something everyone anyhow already knew – Jerusalem is not for sale. While the Palestinians can still lay claim to parts of the eastern side of the city, Jerusalem is Israel’s capital as it was 3,000 years ago when designated so by King David.With that said, peace is not made between Jerusalem and Washington DC. It needs to be made between Israeli and Palestinian leaders and sadly, for the last three years of the Trump administration, when it comes to direct talks, there has been no tangible progress.Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to swear in his fifth government in a few days, has served as Israel’s prime minister for 14 years. The thought that in his 15th year as prime minister he will suddenly change his policies and engage with the Palestinians in ways he has not until now also seems unlikely.The Americans do not seem particularly disturbed by this even though they are asking Netanyahu to publicly declare his support for the entire US peace plan – more commonly known as the Deal of the Century – before moving ahead in July with annexation of 30 percent of the West Bank. This would not require a formal government decision but at the very least, a declaration by the head of the soon-to-be-sworn coalition that he accepts the plan in its entirety – including the establishment of a Palestinian state - and is prepared to negotiate with that being the basis.
The occasion of the second anniversary of the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem is an opportunity to on the one hand, thank Donald Trump for correcting this historical wrong, but also to urge leaders on all sides to start to think about the future of their peoples and less about the future of their political careers.Israelis might have forgotten in recent years - and even more so in recent months as their focus turned to the novel coronavirus – but there still is an unsolved conflict with our Palestinian neighbors. Combating the spread of the virus saw Israel work together with the Palestinian Authority. Now is the time to leverage that cooperation to full-fledged negotiations between the different leaders.Netanyahu might have a historic opportunity in July to apply Israeli law to West Bank settlements, but he also has an opportunity – before he potentially leaves office in 2021 – to renew talks with the Palestinian Authority. Annexation is something most Israelis support. Peace is something supported by all.
