America’s friends and foes unleashed fierce criticism on Wednesday ahead of President Donald Trump’s announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
While Israel welcomed the news, Palestinian officials declared the Mideast peace process “finished” and Turkey announced it would host a meeting of Islamic nations next week to give Muslim countries’ leaders an opportunity to coordinate a response. The Arab League scheduled an emergency meeting on Saturday.
The harsh global reaction cast questions about the feasibility of a brewing U.S. peace plan that is expected to be presented by the White House in the near future.
The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state and fear that Trump’s declaration essentially imposes on them a disastrous solution for one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“There is no way that there can be talks with the Americans. The peace process is finished. They have already pre-empted the outcome,” said Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi. “They cannot take us for granted.”
The U.S. decision “destroys the peace process,” added Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. Top Palestinian officials were meeting Wednesday to plot their course forward.
U.S. officials said late Tuesday that Trump will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, despite intense Arab, Muslim and European opposition to a move that would upend decades of U.S. policy and risk potentially violent protests. Trump was expected to unveil his plan in a speech later Wednesday.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Facebook that “Our historical national identity is receiving important expressions everyday.” He said he would comment further later in the day.
Other members of his Cabinet were more forthcoming. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the nationalist Jewish Home party, praised what he called Trump’s “bold and yet natural” move.
“The sooner the Arab world recognizes Jerusalem as our capital, the sooner we will reach real peace. Real peace that is not predicated on an illusion that we are going to carve up Jerusalem and carve up Israel,” Bennett told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference.
International leaders, however, swiftly criticized Trump’s plan.
Pope Francis said he was “profoundly concerned” and appealed that “everyone respects the status quo of the city.” China, which has good ties with Israel and the Palestinians, expressed concerns over “possible aggravation of regional tensions.” Russia, a key Mideast player, expressed its concern about a “possible deterioration.” Two leading Lebanese newspapers published front-page rebukes of Trump.
Britain’s Foreign Minister, Boris Johnson, who had already expressed concern about the U.S. decision, on Wednesday said it was now time for the Americans to present their peace plan for the region.
Trump’s Mideast team, led by his adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have spent months meeting with Israeli, Palestinian and Arab leaders. Details of their long awaited plan remain a mystery.
“Clearly this is a decision that makes it more important than ever that the long-awaited American proposals on the Middle East peace process are now brought forward,” Johnson told reporters in Brussels.
In his speech, Trump was expected to instruct the State Department to begin the multi-year process of moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city. It remained unclear, however, when he might take that physical step, which is required by U.S. law but has been waived on national security grounds for more than two decades.
The officials said numerous logistical and security details, as well as site determination and construction, could take three or four years to sort out.
To that end, the officials said Trump would delay the embassy move by signing a waiver, which is required by U.S. law every six months. He will continue to sign the waiver until preparations for the embassy move are complete.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity pending Trump’s announcement, said the decision was merely an acknowledgment of “historical and current reality” rather than a political statement and said the city’s physical and political borders will not be compromised.
They noted that almost all of Israel’s government agencies and parliament are in Jerusalem, rather than Tel Aviv, where the U.S. and other countries maintain embassies.
Still, the declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital carries deep symbolic significance and could have dangerous consequences. The competing claims to east Jerusalem, the section of the city captured by Israel in 1967, have frequently boiled over into deadly violence over the years.
East Jerusalem is home to the city’s most sensitive Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites, as well as its 330,000 Palestinian residents.
The United States has never endorsed the Jewish state’s claim of sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem and has insisted its status be resolved through Israeli-Palestinian negotiation.
The mere consideration of Trump changing the status quo sparked a renewed U.S. security warning on Tuesday. America’s consulate in Jerusalem ordered U.S. personnel and their families to avoid visiting Jerusalem’s Old City or the West Bank, and urged American citizens in general to avoid places with increased police or military presence.
Trump, as a presidential candidate, repeatedly promised to move the U.S. Embassy. However, U.S. leaders have routinely and unceremoniously delayed such a move since President Bill Clinton signed a law in 1995 stipulating that the United States must relocate its diplomatic presence to Jerusalem unless the commander in chief issues a waiver on national security grounds.
Key national security advisers — including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis — have urged caution, according to the officials, who said Trump has been receptive to some of their concerns.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is calling a summit of the main pan-Islamic body in Istanbul on December 13 to discuss the expected US move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
"In the face of developments that arouse sensitivity over the status of Jerusalem, Mr President is calling a leaders' summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in order to display joint action among Islamic countries," presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters in Ankara.
He said the summit meeting would take place on December 13. There was no immediate confirmation from Muslim leaders if they would come.
Turkey currently holds the chairmanship of the OIC.
The recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the moving of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem -- expected to be announced by President Donald Trump later Wednesday -- would be a "grave mistake" against international agreements, Kalin warned.
"Jerusalem is our honour, Jerusalem is our common cause, Jerusalem is our red line," he added, urging the Trump administration to "return from this grave mistake immediately".
Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said the expected US move risked igniting a "fire" in the Middle East and will prove a "great disaster".
The recognition will "throw the region and the world into a fire and it's not known when it will end", Bozdag, also government spokesman, wrote on Twitter.
Bozdag said such a step which showed "great intolerance and mindlessness" would "destroy the peace process".
- 'Chaos and instability' -
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Brussels ahead of meeting US counterpart Rex Tillerson that the move is a "mistake" that "will not bring stability and peace but rather chaos and instability."
Asked whether he would bring the issue up with Tillerson, the minister said: "I have already told him and I will tell him again."
Erdogan had warned Tuesday that the status of Jerusalem is a "red line" for Muslims and could even prompt Turkey to cut ties with Israel.
The Turkish leader -- who regards himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause -- is due to hold talks later in Ankara with Jordanian King Abdullah II who is also a strong opponent of the move.
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