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Thanks to U.S., Diplomatic Taboo around Western Wall Comes Tumbling Down

(Times of Israel) Raphael Ahren - On May 22, 2017, Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem in a "private" visit. Like all foreign leaders who went to the site before him, Trump was unaccompanied by high-ranking Israeli officials, lest anyone misinterpret their presence as a tacit recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the city's disputed eastern section. But since the December 6, 2017, U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and the May 14, 2018, move of the U.S. embassy there, more foreign dignitaries than ever before have visited the Jewish holy site, and many of them no longer mind being chaperoned there by Israeli diplomats. "A lot of the inhibitions that might have existed in the past have been dropped. It's pretty clear to many in the international community that the area of the Wall, if not the whole city, will remain in Israel's hands in any future peace arrangement," said Dore Gold, a former Foreign Ministry director-general. "From private conversations you get the impression that there is a growing understanding that Jerusalem is not going to be divided....The whole question of Jerusalem in the international community is very much in flux, whereas previously it seemed to be locked in."
2019-03-22 00:00:00
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