Trump Plans to Recognize Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel

Two news agencies reported on Thursday, citing several official sources, that "the Donald Trump administration intends to recognize Jerusalem, Al-Quds, as the capital of Israel." Reuters and the Associated Press published this news on Thursday, December 9, based on comments from several "officials of the U.S. government." At the same time, Israeli media speculated that Donald Trump would announce this new policy in a speech or official statement in the coming days. The United States and no other country in the world has recognized Jerusalem/Al-Quds as the capital of Israel until now. In this context, the American newspaper Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the Washington government has informed its other embassies of this decision to prepare for possible demonstrations by Palestinians and their supporters. The Jerusalem Post in Israel assessed that recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the U.S. would face widespread backlash from the international community and anger from Palestinians, as it represents a significant shift in U.S. policy over recent decades and would have serious international repercussions. Fox News, a television network supportive of Donald Trump, assessed on Friday that announcing this decision would "ignite tensions throughout the Middle East." Newsweek also deemed such a decision "controversial" and likely to lead to severe conflicts in the region. Israel took control of East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and has since declared both parts of the city as its "eternal and united capital." The international community, supporting the Palestinians, emphasizes that East Jerusalem should be the capital of a future Palestinian state. However, Israel has always been eager for the international community, especially the U.S., which it calls its most important ally, to recognize both East and West Jerusalem as the capital of this country. On the other hand, "U.S. officials" told Reuters and the Associated Press that Mr. Trump's administration would delay the implementation of a 22-year-old congressional resolution that called for the transfer of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for another six months. On Monday, December 14, the previous six-month order from Mr. Trump, delaying the implementation of the 1995 congressional resolution, will expire, and his administration must announce whether the resolution will be implemented or if the U.S. embassy will continue to operate in Tel Aviv as it has for several decades. Mike Pence, the U.S. Vice President, stated this week that the Trump administration is "actively reviewing the timing and manner of the embassy's transfer to Jerusalem." However, the Associated Press reported, citing "two official sources" from the U.S. government, that in a meeting last Monday in Washington, which included Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis, it was stated that transferring the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem would put American diplomats' lives in the region at risk. Meanwhile, since Thursday, December 9, tensions in relations between Israel and the Palestinians have intensified following the killing of an Israeli and a Palestinian alongside Israeli air and ground attacks on Gaza after mortar fire from Gaza towards Israeli soldiers at the border. In the latest instance of these tensions, Israeli police attributed the death of an Israeli soldier in a knife attack in the southern city of Arad on Thursday night to Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on Facebook on Friday, December 10, that "the cowardly killers of the Israeli soldier will be arrested and prosecuted." Palestinians and Israelis provided differing accounts regarding the shooting incident that led to the death of a Palestinian farmer in the village of "Qasra" in the West Bank on Thursday. Israel claimed that Palestinians in this village posed a serious threat to several settlers, and armed guards opened fire. However, Palestinians claimed that settlers attacked the village of "Qasra" and sought to drive farmers from their lands, and during the confrontation, the guards of the settlers killed Mahmoud Odeh. On Thursday, the Israeli army also conducted air and ground attacks on seven Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in various locations in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian media reports, three Palestinians were injured in the attacks by Israeli warplanes and artillery fire. The Israeli army stated that its attacks on Gaza were in response to the firing of "more than ten mortars" on Thursday towards soldiers at the "Erez" border crossing, which did not result in any casualties or damage.