Trump Chooses Israel Over “Arab Friends”

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his wife, Mrs. Sara Netanyahu, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017.
(Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

I support President Donald Trump’s directive to support the bible and the Israeli people by moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. A problematic block of misguided Americans writes of the hurdles Trump’s long promised decision will cause our Arab friends. Exactly what “Arab friends” should America be concerned about? I certainly hope Americans are not wringing their hands over the likes of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, both of whom America should cut all ties with tomorrow.

Trump called the move a “recognition of reality.” Mark Perry, writing at The American Conservative, says it will be remembered that when asked to stand with European and Arab allies, Donald Trump chose Israel instead. Perry writes:

Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. now recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and will eventually move its embassy there, might well be the most predictable decision of an otherwise unpredictable presidency.

Trump made his Jerusalem promise back in March of 2016, during an address he gave to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). It was an obvious attempt to convince skeptical Jewish leaders of his uncompromising support for Israel.

But it’s not only that Trump was intent to fulfill a campaign promise: The Jerusalem initiative has been in the works since the day he took office, was coordinated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and is supported by influential voices in the administration—including Vice President Mike Pence, son-in-law Jared Kushner, Middle East envoy (and former Trump Organization lawyer) Jason Greenblatt, and CIA Director Mike Pompeo. The decision was all but finalized, The American Conservative has learned, during a late November meeting of Trump’s foreign policy advisors at the White House.

And so it is that President Trump’s Jerusalem announcement might well be seen as a significant and decisive victory—for Israel, for the Republican Party, and for those Jewish Americans who have had to choose between their progressive ideals and their support for a nation that is anything but…

…it’s probable that the governments of Europe will remember the real import of this decision—that when asked to stand with our European allies and Arab friends, we chose Israel instead.