(Washington Post) Daniel B. Shapiro - Moving the U.S. Embassy to a location in west Jerusalem is correct and reasonable. West Jerusalem has served as Israel's capital since the founding of the state, and no plausible two-state map would change that. Our embassy's presence in the city reinforces the legitimacy of historic Jewish ties to the city, which are too often denied by Palestinians. Palestinians can hold out and refuse to tell hard truths to their own people about the legitimacy of a Jewish state, Israel's permanence and the immorality of violence, but their ability to generate pressure on Israel is declining. Unless Palestinian leaders who come after PA President Mahmoud Abbas address the Israeli public's legitimate anxieties about Palestinian intentions, their people will continue to languish while much of the world shrugs, turns away from a hopeless cause, and makes high-tech deals with Israel. The writer, a visiting fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, served as U.S. ambassador to Israel.
2018-05-11 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive