ISRAEL HAYOM
Build around Jerusalem
by David M Weinberg
November 18, 2016

…I also don’t think that Israel should prioritize an “ask” that the U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem — even though Trump promised to do that and such a move would be an important diplomatic signal. What is rational, reasonable, and of precedence, is this: an explicit return to the “Bush letter” understandings of 2004 for effective and permanent Israeli control of the so-called “settlement blocs,” an upgrade on these understandings to include E1, and an end to Barack Obama’s obsession with blocking the growth of Jewish Jerusalem. Moving the U.S. in this direction is necessary and urgent. This would be a razor-sharp diplomatic signal that the old “international parameters” for an Israeli-Palestinian accord are passe. READ MORE