“Today we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital,” Trump declared in a speech at the White House. After more than two decades … we are no closer to a lasting peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Trump insisted that his decision would not derail his administration’s so-far unsuccessful efforts to restart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. But Palestinians, who claim East Jerusalem as the capital of their eventual independent state, were furious, as were U.S. allies throughout Europe and the Arab world. What does he gain?” asked Daniel Kurtzer, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel under President George W. Bush.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 06, 2017 18:40 UTC