Upon meeting with Israeli Parliament on Monday, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the US Embassy in Jerusalem is planned to be opened by the end of 2019. Though at first it may not seem completely controversial, in doing this, the US is speeding up an operation thought to need 4-5 years. Because US leadership has said nothing other than the fact of what they intend to do, move the recognized capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, it is clear what they are trying to do. By recognizing Jerusalem, an area for years disputed for who controls it, as the capital of the Jewish state of Israel, the US has began consolidate their power in the area. Though this move has sparked resentment from the Palestinian government and people, as Arab lawmakers protested at the very beginning of Mike Pence’s speech on Monday, it has forced the State of Palestine into a awful situation. If Israel were to get full control of the new capital, Palestine and its already disjointed leadership could begin to collapse. The proposed cut in aid from the U.S. government will only accelerate this process. Though initial reactions to this change may be harsh, Palestine will most likely have to give in to U.S. and Israeli peace talks and settlements. In order to ease tensions on this conflict with Palestine’s ally, Iran, Trump proposed to waive a round of sanctions on the country. I believe this was done by Trump to make Iran look away from Israeli-Palestian conflict, though the U.S. and Israel will most likely have more problems with Iran in the future if similar events regarding Israel were to become ongoing.
