WarSclerotic

Trump Tells Abbas & Abdullah: The US Embassy is Moving to Jerusalem, The Jewish Press, December 5, 2017

(Please see also Report: US Quietly Taking Major Steps Toward Moving Israeli Embassy. As to the timing, it may take time to get the new embassy ready.– DM)

Mazal Tov to President Trump from a Jerusalem, Israel builder

On Monday night, President Trump did not sign the waiver for the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which he is required to sign every 6 months if he wants to delay the move.

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President Donald J. Trump spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the King of Jordan Abdullah II on Tuesday and informed them that he intends to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Both the PA and the Kingdom of Jordan released statements stating that this is what Trump told them.

No indication was given for a timeline as to when this will happen.

The Palestinian Authority had already called for three days of rage starting on Wednesday, before they received the phone call.

There is some expectations that on Wednesday, Trump may also officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

On Monday night, President Trump did not sign the waiver for the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which he is required to sign every 6 months if he wants to delay the move.

US embassies said to gird for protests over Trump Jerusalem moves, Times of Israel, December 5, 2017

(Please see also, Report: US Quietly Taking Major Steps Toward Moving Israeli Embassy. As to the “peace process,” the “Palestinians” have gone far beyond what is necessary to demonstrate that they do not want peace at any price Israel can pay and survive. — DM)

This file photo taken on January 20, 2017 shows the exterior of the US Embassy building in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv. (AFP/JACK GUEZ)

The US State Department is reportedly bracing for violence at its embassies and consulates should President Donald Trump follow through on his reported intention to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Diplomats fear an announcement by Trump, expected in a major policy speech Wednesday, could provoke anger in the Muslim world, setting off protests at US missions around the world, the Politico news site reported Monday.

At least two classified cables have been sent to embassies and consulates warning them of potential danger and advising they ramp up security, the report said.

“The impending Jerusalem announcement has me very worried about the possibility of violent responses that could affect embassies,” the site quoted a State Department official as saying.

World leaders have warned Trump that breaking with decades of US policy and shifting Washington’s position on Israel’s capital — as well as possibly moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — could spark violence.

The Hamas terror group, which controls Gaza, called Saturday for a new intifada if Washington recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or moves its embassy there.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Monday brushed aside warnings of violence by Palestinians and the wider Arab world, saying Israel will “know how to deal with all the ramifications” of any US police shift.

Though heavily fortified, US missions have been the target of violent mobs angry at Washington in the past, including protests outside embassies in 2012 following the release of a movie critical of the prophet Muhammad.

Protesters run as police, unseen, open fire into the air near the US Embassy during a protest about a film ridiculing Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012. (photo credit: Hani Mohammed/AP)

Trump, who campaigned on a promise of moving the embassy, walked it back after assuming the presidency. Recent reports say that he was unhappy with his first waiver issued in June and wants to go ahead and recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. There have been conflicting details as to what such a recognition would encompass, and whether it would involve moving the embassy.

A deadline on signing a waiver to delay moving the embassy passed Monday without any US move on the issue.

Palestinian officials have said that moving the embassy would scuttle attempts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks led by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser. Kushner, in a rare public appearance this weekend, said he was optimistic about restarting the talks.

Significantly, Saudi Arabia on Monday also warned against recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Kushner has become close to the Saudi crown prince, Muhammad bin Salman, and has sought his help in advancing the peace process.

“Any US announcement on the status of Jerusalem prior to a final settlement would have a detrimental impact on the peace process and would heighten tensions in the region,” Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Khalid bin Salman, the crown prince’s brother, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The Arab League said it was closely watching Trump’s moves on Jerusalem, with leader Ahmed Abul Gheit warning that recognizing the city as Israel’s capital would pose a threat “to the stability of the Middle East and the whole world.”

“It will not serve peace or stability, instead it will nourish fanaticism and violence,” he said on Sunday, noting that the League was following the issue and would coordinate a joint position with Palestinian and Arab leaders if Trump took the step.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi attends the Arab Foreign Minister’s meeting in Cairo to discuss the simmering unrest surrounding the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on July 27, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI)

ordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi also warned that any change to the status of Jerusalem would have “grave consequences,” in a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday.

It was crucial, he said, “to preserve the historical and legal status of Jerusalem and refrain from any decision that aims to change that status,” the official Petra news agency reported.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation said Monday that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would be an act of “naked aggression” that would cause the United States to lose “its mediating role” in the Middle East, after an emergency meeting at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Report: US Quietly Taking Major Steps Toward Moving Israeli Embassy, Algemeiner, Benjamin Kerstein, December 3, 2017

The Israeli flag at Jerusalem’s Western Wall. Photo: Hynek Moravec via Wikimedia Commons.

With the world poised for President Donald Trump’s expected statement on Wednesday that the US recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, American officials are quietly taking major steps toward moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city, a leading Israeli publication reported.

According to Israel’s Channel 2, sources have revealed that a site for the embassy has been chosen and preliminary steps toward construction are already underway.

The report cites anonymous sources saying the site chosen for the new embassy is the Diplomat Hotel in the neighborhood of Arnona. Furthermore, a well-known Israeli architect has been hired and is collaborating with Trump’s representatives as well as the municipal planning board.

There is documented evidence that the preparations are being made, according to Channel 2. They apparently include major changes to the interior of the hotel in order to satisfy the needs of an embassy, such as providing new entrances and exits, security rooms, bomb shelters, and underground facilities. Security measures will also be introduced on the exterior of the building, such as fences, guardhouses, and electronic surveillance.

An anonymous source described as a high-level official in the Jerusalem municipality was quoted as saying, “The Americans have already submitted preliminary sketches and our understanding is essentially that they plan to do an entire remodeling of the place from inside. An American architect who builds American embassies all over the world has come to check the site.”

The chairman of the local planning committee, Deputy Mayor Meir Turgeman, stated on the record: “We were impressed that the American standards are much higher than we’re used to here. … The requirements are much more stringent regarding planning, security, and safety.” Turgeman stated, however, that the US has not revealed all of its plans to the municipality due to national security considerations.

“We never felt for a moment that the Americans forgot about the embassy,” Turgeman added, saying that US officials have been on the ground examining the site for some time.

Thus far, Trump has not publicly announced a new policy on the location of the American embassy, though he has yet to sign an annual waiver that would prevent the Congressionally-mandated move.