(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - Col. (res.) Dr. Eran Lerman, former deputy for foreign policy and international affairs at Israel's National Security Council, said Arab threats of violence over U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital are likely to have little impact on the U.S. administration. Furthermore, he said, "both sides of the Ramallah-Gaza divide have no wish for another round of violence, certainly not because of a symbolic reason that basically changes nothing on the ground." Lerman said that nobody in the Arab leadership is eager to confront President Trump at this stage, and that he believes Saudi Arabia would "support an American initiative that helps the Palestinians adjust their expectations to a level that is deliverable and implementable." U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital would send a strong message to the Palestinians that their dream of rewriting history so that it does not include any Jewish historical ties to Jerusalem is simply not going to work. Such a recognition would correct a historical anomaly that denies Israel the right to say where its capital is. With such recognition, Lerman said, the U.S. would help debunk the idea "that somehow this is not a negotiation between two sides, but an international court of law in which Israel is in the dock."
2017-12-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive