Trump's Crusade

Why exactly this US president recognized Jerusalem to the capital of Israel right now

On December 6, US President Donald Trump announced the recognition of Jerusalem the capital of Israel. He motivated his decision as follows: the step was inevitable, and the long -term delay in such recognition did not contribute to resolving the conflict. The message immediately caused a scandal in the camp of the Arab countries (it reached threats to the Americans, street clashes and flag burning), and in Europe, where the peaceful coexistence of the two states are considered the only option for a dispute for the territory. At the request of Novaya Gazeta, Orientalist Alexander Shumilin explained why Trump’s decision was predictable, and many countries will still turn him to their benefit.

Alexander Shumilin

orientalist

- It must be immediately clarified that the transfer of the capital of Israel to Jerusalem needs the administration and personally President Trump, and not the United States in general, where opinions on this subject diverge. The actions of all the predecessors of the current president in this matter are a vivid example of this. Let me remind you that the implementation of the law adopted by Congress and approved by Clinton back in 1995 was constantly delayed. And Trump moved the case from a dead point, and there are several reasons for that.

Firstly, this is the fulfillment of his pre-election promise.

Secondly, this reflection of his beliefs -the Trump family is thoroughly connected with the Gospel Christians and the Jewish community of the United States. And this issue is of fundamental importance for them, since Ierusalem is the historical city of Jews, built by Jews more than 3000 years ago, it is the soul of the Jewish people, the guard city. As well as the city of activity and martyrdom of Jesus from Nazareth.

And, finally, thirdly, the statement of the new capital of Israel is an attempt to remove the severity of discussion around Trump himself and Russia's intervention in the process of his election. That is, to switch the problems from internal policy to external, related to Jerusalem and the Middle East. It looks quite consistent and expected, albeit half -heartedly. The United States accept Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but the transfer of the embassy from Tel Aviv was postponed for six months. It seems to be for technical reasons, not political.

The moment to decide on Jerusalem was chosen by Trump successfully, that is, when the US partners - Israel and Arab countries - strengthen the connections among themselves in the confrontation of Iran. Of course, the US decision on Jerusalem will cause a negative reaction of the Palestinians (and we already see this), but only at the level of rhetoric and street manifestations of discontent. According to Trump's calculations, the consolidation process of Arabs, Israelis and Americans against Iran must minimize real damage from the statement about Jerusalem. Also at the level of the world community - in addition to declarations and rhetoric, this story will not cause any significant conflicts.

Many will play this situation in their favor. Including Russia . Back in April of this year, the Foreign Ministry spoke of the readiness to recognize the West Jerusalem by the capital of Israel (as well as East Jerusalem - the capital of the Palestinian state), which, of course, would further strengthen relations with Israel. On the other hand, at the level of declarations, Russia will try to correct its image in the Arab world, which has staggered after the Syrian operation, and will remind of the consistent policy of supporting the Arabs. The tendency with the real recognition of Jerusalem in the capital of Israel will remain, but Russia will support it much more accurately and more balanced than the United States.

In essence, the transfer of the capital of Israel to Jerusalem is an important historical moment, and it had to once happen. And earlier it was believed that this decision could be made in the last stages of settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. But since the problem of transfer was postponed for 22 years, and there were no real steps to settle down, the Trump team went to a kind of experiment. If the question of Jerusalem does not interfere with the process of restoration of the world (since it is static in fact), maybe the change in Jerusalem's status will help this process? Now, in the conditions of the new reality, it will be interesting to see if the Trump administration counts, it will spur the Palestinians to find steps to settle and deceive them from the practice of condemning Israel in the eyes of the world community.

Recorded Daria Kobylkin