Going into this new year, The United States is going to see some significant changes happening. One of these changes is leading us straight into different parts of the world, potentially shifting into something huge. This may be a bit of a stretch, but it is important nonetheless on how leaders are acting and how countries around the world should start responding.
On December 6, 2017, President Trump announced to the whole world that the United States now fully recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and henceforth will be moving the United States’ embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “Today we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital,” President Trump said inside the White House. “This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do. It’s something that has to be done.” The complete and total shock rippled through from country to country in the matter of days where declaration of nationalism caused massive outcry. On Thursday 21, 2017, the United Nations (UN) called to vote on condemning President’s Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy over to Jerusalem and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. 128 out of 193 members voted no on having Jerusalem being recognized as the capital of Israel
So what are these embassies? U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, as well as foreign embassies and consulates in the United States, have a special status. While diplomatic spaces remain the territory of the host state, an embassy or consulate represents a sovereign state. What they do is promote in this case, American culture, economy and science from the host country. The military attaché is responsible for contacts between the two armed forces and for arms business. However, these embassies are supposed to be placed in the capital of the country and as many students may know from geography class, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, not Tel Aviv. And with all of the conflict going on inside the Middle East due to religious differences, the rest of the world does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in order not to be in the middle of said conflict.
Ever since the Jewish people finally had a place to call their own back in 1948, they have been under constant threat and terror, especially concerning Jerusalem is in the center of 3 major religious conflicts that have spread through thousands of years, not to mention, the feud between Israel and Palestine about who has claim over Jerusalem. Previous presidents such as Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton have all promised that they would move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, but never delivered on that promise.
Ian Smith, a senior at Riverbend said, “Personally, I believe that President Trump made the right decision because he strengthened our relationship with a powerful ally. Now, we can count on Israel to support our country in times of domestic distress or foreign engagement.”
Israel has been one of America’s closest allies, if not the closest, throughout the years for decades. To strip them away from this is essentially a slap in the face to them and denies them the integrity and national pride they rightfully deserve. So for the United States to deny them of this right seems like betrayal, especially what they’ve been through and how they treated us with the same support as we did for them in the past, i.e. financial aid. Nearly 3 billion in grants annually to Israel, with Israel being the largest annual recipient of American aid from 1976 to 2004 and the largest cumulative recipient of aid ($121 billion, not inflation-adjusted) since World War II. In case the world hasn’t noticed yet, the president is going to do what he wants to do no matter what, even when everyone seems to disagree. Controversial? Definitely. However, he is the only president to follow through on this promise which seems to say more about his ideals than some may care to believe.