It has now been a month since President Trump recognized reality and confirmed the US view that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. The big names of the old foreign policy establishment, especially those from the Obama years, predicted a major disaster. There would be riots, terrorist attacks and perhaps war. The chance for peace would disappear (a kind of magic how an already dead peace process dies again.) They were all wrong, except for President Trump. There were a few extra days of rage proclaimed by the Palestinians -- they're good at that. But there really wasn't much else. Now reports are coming out that the Egyptian and Saudi governments tacitly supported the move. They denounced it publically, but privately pressured the Palestinians to accept it.
The Palestinians responded, of course, by denouncing the USA and refusing to speak about peace if the USA was involved. That was a mistake. President Trump responded by telling the Palestinians that he was cutting aid to them until they return to the peace talks. It's another move that horrified the Obama foreign policy gurus. The USA wasn't just talking, we were actually taking action AGAINST the Palestinians. The Obama group always knew who was at fault no matter what had happened: Israel. That was why Obama was the first president who was intensely disliked by the Israeli public. Now, reality has returned to our foreign policy. There will be times, for sure, when the Israelis will find themselves opposed by the USA on one or another matter. They understand now, however, that those will be real issues, not ideological issues devoid of reason like in the old Obama days. It's important for the Palestinians to realize this too. They no longer have a free pass from the USA. If the Palestinians come to understand this, it will be a great move towards actually restarting peace talks.
The Palestinians responded, of course, by denouncing the USA and refusing to speak about peace if the USA was involved. That was a mistake. President Trump responded by telling the Palestinians that he was cutting aid to them until they return to the peace talks. It's another move that horrified the Obama foreign policy gurus. The USA wasn't just talking, we were actually taking action AGAINST the Palestinians. The Obama group always knew who was at fault no matter what had happened: Israel. That was why Obama was the first president who was intensely disliked by the Israeli public. Now, reality has returned to our foreign policy. There will be times, for sure, when the Israelis will find themselves opposed by the USA on one or another matter. They understand now, however, that those will be real issues, not ideological issues devoid of reason like in the old Obama days. It's important for the Palestinians to realize this too. They no longer have a free pass from the USA. If the Palestinians come to understand this, it will be a great move towards actually restarting peace talks.
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