Trump presidency is already altering Israeli-Palestinian politics

Just two days old, the presidency of Donald J. Trump is already reshaping the politics between Israelis and Palestinians, on issues from the location of the American Embassy to possible annexation of a major settlement bloc to whether Palestinians are on the edge of a renewed revolt, The New York Times said in a commentary on Monday.

Sunday was a day of intense maneuvering on all sides, with an elation among many Israelis that the rancorous relations with the Obama administration were over — but with questions about just how far or how quickly Trump would go on moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a quandary that has bedeviled American presidents for decades.

Palestinian and Arab leaders girded for the changes that the new administration in Washington might bring. On Sunday, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, met in Jordan with King Abdullah II, and both leaders repeated their staunch opposition to the embassy move.

The men did not release details of any plans for a coordinated reaction, but both have warned of renewed violence if the move happens. The Palestinian leadership has indicated it would revoke its recognition of Israel, considered the first condition by Israelis for negotiations on a two-state solution — a possibility that seems remote at the moment in any case. 

“I hope the American administration will act on two levels: one, to not discuss moving the embassy to Jerusalem, and second, for the administration to lead negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis with the aim of achieving a political settlement,” Abbas said.

The Israeli news media was filled with speculation on Sunday that the Trump administration would immediately announce the embassy move — as a de facto recognition of Israel’s annexation of predominantly Arab East Jerusalem, which it captured from Jordan during the 1967 war.

As such, Netanyahu tried to tamp down his rivals by positioning himself both as Trump’s main interlocutor as well as the champion of Jewish settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

He declared that he opposed any limits on building in East Jerusalem, a major point of contention between him and the Obama administration. On Sunday, the city announced approval for 566 housing units that had been delayed over Obama’s objections.

But at the same time, Netanyahu blocked the initiative of a chief rival, Naftali Bennett, the education secretary and leading voice on the hard right, by persuading him to table proposing a law with potentially explosive consequences: the annexation of Ma’ale Adumim, a settlement of 40,000 people just northeast of Jerusalem. Bennett agreed to hold off on any such legislation until Netanyanu meets with Trump in February.

Source: MENA