{"id":6268,"date":"2018-01-22T08:00:55","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T13:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thediplomaticenvoy.com\/?p=6268"},"modified":"2018-01-23T14:31:58","modified_gmt":"2018-01-23T19:31:58","slug":"trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Makes Strategic Decision to Recognize Jerusalem"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Halimah Elmariah
\nStaff Writer<\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

On December 6, President Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital, a contentious decision because of Palestinians\u2019 claim of East Jerusalem as a capital for a potential Palestinian state. President Trump\u2019s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital is strategic and calculated, although not justified and certainly doesn\u2019t accelerate the likelihood of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n

In some ways, Arab leaders, particularly those in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, created the conditions that enabled Trump\u2019s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

Egypt\u2019s regional influence, long considered a force for stability, has steadily withered in the face of internal economic and political crises that have eroded its institutions.<\/p>\n

While Egypt has enjoyed a stronger relationship with the Trump administration than it did with the Obama administration, the Trump administration recently withheld $300 million in foreign aid to Egypt over allegations that the Arab state purchased weapons from North Korea<\/a>. Given this thorny episode that threatens Egypt\u2019s foreign aid, and the police state\u2019s internal problems, it\u2019s unlikely that Egyptian leaders would have taken a hard-line position on Trump\u2019s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital. Not to mention that President Sisi has displayed an affinity<\/a> for President Trump on a number of occasions, not unlike the affinity expressed by the Saudi Arabian rulers.<\/p>\n

The custodians of the two holiest Islamic sites engaged in a series of events that arguably paved the road for the American embassy\u2019s move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

First, the Al Saud family warmly welcomed President Trump to their kingdom on his first foreign visit as president, and bestowed him with over 80 luxurious gifts<\/a>, despite President Trump\u2019s blatant anti-Muslim rhetoric. Since Trump\u2019s ostentatious visit, crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, and President Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner have developed a close relationship<\/a> around their shared antipathy of Iran.<\/p>\n

Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Institution wrote<\/a> in The Atlantic that Saudi Arabia \u201cfinds itself in close embrace with the most anti-Muslim administration in US history and stands as one of the few countries genuinely enthusiastic about Trump\u2019s foreign policy agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

In June, Saudi Arabia and three of its biggest allies cut<\/a> diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar for a number of reasons, including alleged cooperation with Iran. This imprudent move not only threatened the survival of the Council (GCC), but also demonstrated regional fragmentation and arguably weakened Qatar\u2019s political clout by isolating the wealthy state. Saudi Arabian rulers further stoked regional sectarianism by encouraging the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri to resign, which could have stirred an internal Lebanese dispute with Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

Two weeks after the episode with the Lebanese Prime Minister, who eventually returned to his post, the New York Times reported<\/a> that presented a plan to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that \u201ctilted toward the Israelis more than any [plan] ever embraced by the American government.\u201d American and Saudi officials denied this, but Palestinian, and European officials confirm Abbas\u2019s version of the conversation. Although the conversation between Abbas and MBS is contested, one thing is certain\u200a\u2014\u200aMohammed bin Salman did not substantively lobby Kushner against relocating the American embassy or recognizing Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital, especially during his alleged clandestine visit<\/a> to Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

Unlike the reticent denouncements made in Cairo and Riyadh about Trump\u2019s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital, officials in Ankara made more vehement condemnations. In the strongest public display<\/a> of opposition to Trump\u2019s announcement, Turkish President Erdogan called<\/a> the move a \u201cred line\u201d for Muslims. Erdogan\u2019s public remarks clearly serve to appease his constituents, but do not reflect Turkey\u2019s actual policy towards Israel, when in May Turkish business leaders encouraged increased<\/a> trade cooperation between the two states. Given Turkey\u2019s economic relations with Israel, it\u2019s difficult to measure how much of Erdogan\u2019s vociferous denunciation is substantial or just rhetoric.<\/p>\n

On the lower end of the influence scale, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya are preoccupied with internal disputes to meaningfully resist or lobby against Trump\u2019s decision.\u00a0 articulated that no one \u201cshould fall under the illusion that declaring Jerusalem Israel\u2019s capital will harm America\u2019s alliances with most, or even many, Arab nations (Jordan being a notable exception).\u201d<\/p>\n

In essence, as American officials prepare to build a new embassy in Jerusalem, influential Arab leaders have created the blueprint on which the contested embassy will be designed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital, a contentious decision because of Palestinians\u2019 claim of East Jerusalem as a capital for a potential Palestinian state. Egypt\u2019s regional influence, long considered a force for stability, created the conditions that enabled Trump\u2019s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,383,1258,388],"tags":[897,970,1259],"class_list":["post-6268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-news","category-us","category-1258","category-mid-east","tag-donald-trump","tag-jerusalem","tag-israels-capital"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump Makes Strategic Decision to Recognize Jerusalem - The Diplomatic Envoy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump Makes Strategic Decision to Recognize Jerusalem - The Diplomatic Envoy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital, a contentious decision because of Palestinians\u2019 claim of East Jerusalem as a capital for a potential Palestinian state. Egypt\u2019s regional influence, long considered a force for stability, created the conditions that enabled Trump\u2019s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Diplomatic Envoy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-22T13:00:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-01-23T19:31:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Halimah Elmariah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Halimah Elmariah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/22\\\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/22\\\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Halimah Elmariah\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/82d1ac5c91d7a6a38e6e929ceea71090\"},\"headline\":\"Trump Makes Strategic Decision to Recognize Jerusalem\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-22T13:00:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-23T19:31:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/22\\\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":749,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Donald Trump\",\"Jerusalem\",\"Israel's Capital\"],\"articleSection\":[\"International News\",\"U.S.\",\"2018\",\"Middle East\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/22\\\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/22\\\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/22\\\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trump Makes Strategic Decision to Recognize Jerusalem - The Diplomatic Envoy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-22T13:00:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-23T19:31:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/82d1ac5c91d7a6a38e6e929ceea71090\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/22\\\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/22\\\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/22\\\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump Makes Strategic Decision to Recognize Jerusalem\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Diplomatic Envoy\",\"description\":\"Words Beyond Borders\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/82d1ac5c91d7a6a38e6e929ceea71090\",\"name\":\"Halimah Elmariah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/55d4943ab04f53aa2023f23f120a4414cbe5d713c9e3a528b096d08ef6f29b88?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/55d4943ab04f53aa2023f23f120a4414cbe5d713c9e3a528b096d08ef6f29b88?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/55d4943ab04f53aa2023f23f120a4414cbe5d713c9e3a528b096d08ef6f29b88?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Halimah Elmariah\"},\"description\":\"Contact Halimah at halimah.elmariah@student.shu.edu.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/author\\\/elmariha\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump Makes Strategic Decision to Recognize Jerusalem - The Diplomatic Envoy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump Makes Strategic Decision to Recognize Jerusalem - The Diplomatic Envoy","og_description":"President Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital, a contentious decision because of Palestinians\u2019 claim of East Jerusalem as a capital for a potential Palestinian state. Egypt\u2019s regional influence, long considered a force for stability, created the conditions that enabled Trump\u2019s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/","og_site_name":"The Diplomatic Envoy","article_published_time":"2018-01-22T13:00:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-01-23T19:31:58+00:00","author":"Halimah Elmariah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Halimah Elmariah","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/"},"author":{"name":"Halimah Elmariah","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#\/schema\/person\/82d1ac5c91d7a6a38e6e929ceea71090"},"headline":"Trump Makes Strategic Decision to Recognize Jerusalem","datePublished":"2018-01-22T13:00:55+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-23T19:31:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/"},"wordCount":749,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["Donald Trump","Jerusalem","Israel's Capital"],"articleSection":["International News","U.S.","2018","Middle East"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/","name":"Trump Makes Strategic Decision to Recognize Jerusalem - The Diplomatic Envoy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-01-22T13:00:55+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-23T19:31:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#\/schema\/person\/82d1ac5c91d7a6a38e6e929ceea71090"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2018\/01\/22\/trump-makes-strategic-decision-to-recognize-jerusalem\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump Makes Strategic Decision to Recognize Jerusalem"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/","name":"The Diplomatic Envoy","description":"Words Beyond Borders","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#\/schema\/person\/82d1ac5c91d7a6a38e6e929ceea71090","name":"Halimah Elmariah","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55d4943ab04f53aa2023f23f120a4414cbe5d713c9e3a528b096d08ef6f29b88?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55d4943ab04f53aa2023f23f120a4414cbe5d713c9e3a528b096d08ef6f29b88?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55d4943ab04f53aa2023f23f120a4414cbe5d713c9e3a528b096d08ef6f29b88?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Halimah Elmariah"},"description":"Contact Halimah at halimah.elmariah@student.shu.edu.","url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/author\/elmariha\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6269,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6268\/revisions\/6269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}