Donald Trump's Jerusalem decision disapproved of by nearly all former US ambassadors to Israel

Donald Trump's Jerusalem decision disapproved of by nearly all former US ambassadors to Israel

Departure from American foreign policy on divisive issue for first time since 1948 condemned by nine out 11 ex-envoys.
All but two of 11 former US ambassadors to Israel contacted by The New York Times after President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital thought the plan was wrongheaded, dangerous or deeply flawed.

The 11 ex-envoys all closely followed Trump’s announcement on Wednesday, in which he also set in motion a plan to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Even those who agreed that Trump was recognising the reality on the ground disagreed with his approach - making a major diplomatic concession without any evident gain in return.

One of the exceptions was Ogden Reid, a former congressman who was the ambassador from 1959 to 1961, at the end of the Eisenhower administration. “I think it’s the right decision,” he said. “Not a lot more to say.”

The other exception was Edward Walker Jr, who was ambassador from 1997 to 1999, under President Bill Clinton.

“I think it’s about time,” he said. “We’ve been remiss in not recognising realities as they are. We all know Israel has a capital, it’s called Jerusalem, and over my 35 years of service in the Middle East no one ever questioned that.”What about the departure from US policy since 1948 - that the final status of Jerusalem is a matter for negotiation between the Israelis and Palestinians - and the condemnation from the international community?

“It’s really a question of what are the lines, the borders, to be drawn around the state of Israel and the ultimate state of Palestine,” Walker said. “Nothing in what the president has said precludes the negotiation of a settlement of this That was not the prevailing view. More typical was the perspective of Daniel Kurtzer, who was the ambassador from 2001 to 2005, under President George W. Bush.

“There are many downsides, both diplomatically and in terms of the Middle East peace process, and no upside,” Kurtzer said. “We are isolated internationally once again - except for the Israeli government, which supports this - and we are taking ourselves out of the role the president says he wants to play as a peace broker.”

Several of the ambassadors were open to recognising West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. But they said that should happen as part of a broader strategy that would also require the Israelis to halt or slow settlement construction and that would recognise East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Martin S. Indyk, who served as ambassador twice, both times during Bill Clinton’s presidency, proposed just such a deal in an op-ed essay in The New York Times this year, weeks before Trump was sworn in.