“I think the president is fundamentally uncomfortable not keeping promises,” said US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman in a May 23 interview on Israel’s Channel 10 television news, expressing pride in his boss and former bankruptcy client, US President Donald Trump. Indeed, unlike all of Trump's predecessors who promised on the campaign trail to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Trump has made good on his pledge. Previous presidents repeatedly signed waivers suspending the move, as mandated by a 1995 congressional act, arguing that it would be harmful to US national security interests. Trump himself signed off on two such waivers in his first year in office, in June and December 2017. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then apparently managed to convince him that not only does the embassy relocation not damage US security interests, it actually contributes to peace. At the inauguration of the embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, Netanyahu proclaimed, “I believe it’s a great day for peace.”
Netanyahu appears to believe that a decision to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank, even as the Trump administration prepares to present its much-touted Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, also contributes to peace. Otherwise, why is such a fearless peace warrior lending a hand to promote new construction in the West Bank?
