Posted on 12/03/2017 2:19:18 PM PST by Eddie01
Having worked at the State Department on Arab-Israeli negotiations for the better part of a quarter century, I came up with more than my fair share of half-baked ideas.
But the one issue I was smart enough to avoid -- and I advised every Secretary of State to do the same -- was Jerusalem.
And yet, if you believe some media reports, President Donald Trump is preparing to do precisely that.
[snip]
If there is a third rail in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, it's Jerusalem. Loaded with political and religious significance, it's long been a tinderbox just waiting for a match. And we've witnessed numerous fires usually breaking out on the overlapping sacred spaces Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Muslims, share and contest on or near the holy sites -- the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount.
[snip]
The odds that Trump will stumble in his Jerusalem gambit are pretty good. That's because the point of the exercise does not seem designed to achieve any real foreign policy goals.
[snip]
The problem is we just don't know what the Administration's peace process strategy is. And in the absence of a coherent one, the Jerusalem gambit appears to be a one-off -- a combination of Trump's frustration over having to use the waiver again, not yet fulfilling his campaign commitment to open an embassy in Jerusalem, and his willful desire to go where none of his predecessors have gone before him.
As such, the President's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital is likely to be far more trouble than it's worth -- adding another layer of complication to a peace process that already faces long odds.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
Miller was a Middle East negotiator in Democratic and Republican administrations. The views expressed in this commentary are his own.
...oh, and he is a total failure.
“Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is a dangerous gambit”
Recognizing reality is a radical act these days.
It’s not a “gambit”.
It’s the RIGHT thing to do.
.
Best move Trump has made yet!
.
CNN sucketh.
agreed. ...and move the U.S. Embassy there while your at it.
CNN, the king of fake news.
Any person who believes that Americans do not want another great president is so divorced from reality that I simply cannot take their word for anything.
But I somehow know that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital is a dangerous gambit.
Anyone associated with Woodwrow Willson is a socialist schmuck!
“I helped screw up Arab-Israeli relations for more than 25 years! I’m better than Woodrow Wilson!”
You declare Jerusalem the capital, you put the embassy there and you tell the Palis to piss off. They had their chance at peace and chose to go terrorist instead.
Jerusalem belongs to the Jews. Amman belongs to the Palis.
He’s a “distinguished scholar”, so... the bars pretty low.
How long has it been since we have bending over backwards worrying about what Muslims think? Can’t offend the Muslims. Can’t tick off the Muslims. What good has it done? What has it benefitted us? Yeah. Nothing.
CNN, tell that to God.
This author doesn’t know what a gambit is.
The only third rail in Pali negotiations is the word peace. They don’t want it and have turned down all the good offers.
If he believes a country should not be able to name its own capital, then I doubt he was much use in negotiations.
Who knows more than you Aaron?
Let me guess...
5.56mm
Aaron,
Peace ain’t a process.
Idiot.
Love,
L
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