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Trump administration 'botched' rollout of Jerusalem decision, say experts

The President seems to have a 'disregard for the importance of diplomacy' 

Alexandra Wilts
Washington DC
Wednesday 13 December 2017 15:14 GMT
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Palestinian children look at vandalised graffiti depicting US President Donald Trump and slogans against US Vice President Mike Pence painted on Israel's controversial separation barrier in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Palestinian children look at vandalised graffiti depicting US President Donald Trump and slogans against US Vice President Mike Pence painted on Israel's controversial separation barrier in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

In the immediate days following President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, his administration has seemingly done little to mitigate the negative fallout from the announcement, with protests continuing to flare across the Middle East six days after the announcement.

Experts told The Independent that Mr Trump “botched the rollout” of the decision - which includes plans to move the US embassy to the holy city - as there appears to have been little effort made to consult with European allies or to fully prepare Arab leaders for what was to come.

Jordan said Mr Trump's action was “legally null” because it consolidated Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians see as part of any future state. For decades, the US has maintained that the status of Jerusalem should be decided by negotiations between the two sides - a policy Mr Trump turned his back on with his announcement last week.

Dov Waxman, a professor of political science, Israel studies and international affairs at Northeastern University in Boston, noted that the Trump administration has yet to nominate ambassadors in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt - all countries vehemently opposed to the US leader’s decision.

This was another sign of poor planning, as having people in those positions could have helped ease the negative effects of the announcement, Mr Waxman suggested.

The President seems to have a “disregard for the importance of diplomacy,” he said.

Following the President’s decision, someone from the White House or the administration could now try to “calm the fears of the Palestinians that the US has given Jerusalem to Israel on a platter,” Mr Waxman said. But there “doesn’t seem to be any follow-up so far.”

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson admitted that the Trump administration had scored no diplomatic “wins” in its first year.

But “that’s not the way this works,” Mr Tillerson told the US diplomatic corps at a town hall meeting. “Diplomacy is not that simple.”

The meeting came amid drooping employee morale in the department, where many are concerned about budget cuts and Mr Tillerson's sluggishness in filling several top positions.

Last week, Mr Trump appeared to try to soften the blow to Palestine by insisting that he was not taking a position on any “final status issues, including the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, or the resolution of contested borders.” But given the global response to his words, it was not enough.

Mr Waxman noted that Mr Trump’s failure in his speech to mention the Palestinian claim to East Jerusalem showed bias in favour of Israel, making the President’s promise that he wasn’t taking a position seem “empty and hollow”.

Already, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said the US is no longer qualified to sponsor the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians following Mr Trump’s decision.

“Perception is what really matters here,” Mr Waxman said. “Trump has seemingly done very little to manage that perception.”

From the outset, for example, not enough was done to allow the US to control the narrative of the decision.

On the day preceding his announcement, Mr Trump made calls to several Arab leaders, including Mr Abbas, to inform them of his plans regarding Jerusalem.

Unhappy with the President's decision, those leaders immediately put out statements declaring their opposition to Mr Trump’s intended move to designate the holy city as the capital - before the White House had issued its own statement and provided reporters with sufficient information.

“The narrative was set by opponents to the move while the White House was silent when it mattered most - and when it could have mitigated some of the worst reactions,” wrote Ilan Goldenberg, the director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, in an op-ed for Slate.

The president called for calm in the region - but that did nothing to stop protests beginning in Palestinian refugee camps in the Jordanian capital of Amman, as well as in Gaza and outside the US embassy in Istanbul. The US State Department also issued safety notices for its staff in a number of countries around the region.

“There will of course be disagreement and dissent regarding this announcement but we are confident that ultimately, as we work through these disagreements, we will arrive at a place of greater understanding and cooperation,” Mr Trump said.

It later emerged, in a memo leaked to Reuters, that the US had privately asked Israel to temper its response to the announcement.

The State Department document, dated 6 December, stated in talking points for diplomats at the US embassy in Tel Aviv to convey to Israeli officials: “While I recognise that you will publicly welcome this news, I ask that you restrain your official response.”

It continued: “We expect there to be resistance to this news in the Middle East and around the world. We are still judging the impact this decision will have on US facilities and personnel overseas.

“You know that this is a unique administration. It makes bold moves. But it is bold moves that are going to be needed if peace efforts are finally going to be successful.”

Elie Jacobs, a political partner with the Truman National Security Project, said the administration’s acknowledgement that there could be strong resistance in the Middle East suggested insensitivity to the situation.

“If you knew it was going to happen, then maybe you should have planned better,” he said, also suggesting that more could have been done to get European leaders on board with the decision.

After a United Nations meeting on Friday, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and Italy said in a joint statement that the decision by Washington, which includes plans to move the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, was “unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace.”

“We stand ready to contribute to all credible efforts to restart the peace process, on the basis of internationally agreed parameters, leading to a two-State solution,“ they said. ”We encourage the US Administration to now bring forward detailed proposals for an Israel-Palestinian settlement.”

Mr Trump also appears to not even have heeded the advice of his own officials, with Mr Tillerson and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis reportedly opposing both the designation of Jerusalem as the capital and the US embassy relocation out of security concerns.

“There was a way to do this,” Mr Jacobs said, referring to rollout of the decision. “They botched this.”

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