# Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's Capital; a Proud Moment **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 8, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854 "2017-12-08T00:17:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/21 "2017-12-08T04:09:38Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Predict what will never happen? He just did. What he just did was sabotage any realistic possibility of a peace settlement in the foreseeable future, and US legitimacy in being involved in such. And as I said in another thread on the same subject, the embassy move will probably never happen anyway, since the process is projected to take years, and he’ll be out of office by then, with cooler heads hopefully prevailing. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/22 "2017-12-08T04:21:38Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Predict what will never happen? He just did. > [@PastTense](#): > > Traditionally this is discussed in conjunction with moving the embassy to Jerusalem. Perhaps Thelma is thinking the embassy won’t be moved. Yes. I meant the embassy will never be moved. All that matters is that thump kept a campaign process. Who cares about the followup? Not him. I heard a thump administration official interviewed on NPR last night, and he hedged and beat around the bush and hemmed and hawed about moving the embassy. The interviewer said that there was a new American consulate in Jerusalem, so why not just make that the embassy, but the guy (sorry, didn’t catch who it was) said that there were procedures to be followed and it would take years choose a location and actually build the embassy. So all thump did was throw a rock into a big pond to stir up some ripples, but he’ll never have to follow through. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/23 "2017-12-08T04:59:50Z")
So, the plan is to build a brand new embassy in Jerusalem. Sounds like the sort of job that requires a top-notch negotiator, someone with real estate experience, and proven skills in financial arrangements! Don’t suppose we can put the one we built in Baghdad on rollers and move it down there? I’m thinking that building the brand new embassy, gonna take a lot of planning. And study, especially security issues. Oh, yeah, security. More planning. Meetings. Might take a while, even to get good and started. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/24 "2017-12-08T05:45:41Z")
It was probably a bad idea, but at least it was a bipartisan bad idea, which is more than we usually get. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/25 "2017-12-08T06:07:18Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Don’t suppose we can put the one we built in Baghdad on rollers and move it down there? Fly a bunch of Chinooks over the old one in Tehran, cable it up and tote it on over. It is not being used, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/26 "2017-12-08T07:24:22Z")
The OP, just like virtually every argument I ever see on Israel’s position on anything, boils down to “Our neighbors are jerks, therefore we should be able to do what we like”. If it’s impossible to let Palestinians administer east Jerusalem, the principled thing to do is say we need to maintain the status quo for now, not command and conquer that shit. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/27 "2017-12-08T07:31:15Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Funny thing…Trump speaks like he’s having a stroke, and now, it’s announced that Trump is headed to Walter Reed next week for a check up. Medical retirement, please, medical retirement. Two words: President Pence. No thanks. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/28 "2017-12-08T08:33:21Z")
> [@gatorslap](#): > > I fail to see what the benefit of this action is, other than vaguely pleasing some Israelis and pro-Israel individuals. A lot of other countries are pissed. We’re not receiving anything in exchange for this. Will Israel remember this moment and pay back their gratitude in some concrete way sometime in the future? Let’s just say I doubt it. > [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > What was achieved? > How did this serve our National Interests? I’ve asked that in another thread on the subject and no one even tried to give an answer. There seems to be no reason to do this other than spite. It’s doubly odd in that Trump portrayed himself as such a great negotiator. He was going to make great deals, all the best deals, with foreign leaders, and the benefits to America would be first and foremost. In politics, the less you plan to do about something the more you must talk about it. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_McGinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6bbea6/32.png) [@Mrs\_McGinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_McGinty)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/29 "2017-12-08T09:26:43Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’ve asked that in another thread on the subject and no one even tried to give an answer. There seems to be no reason to do this other than spite. There is another reason: it helps Russia (and Iran) replace the US as the dominant power in the region. The balance of American political capital on this move is so starkly and extremely negative that it makes most sense as a deliberate act of sabotage against US interests. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/30 "2017-12-08T09:53:22Z")
Well, I’m sure the OP has some reason for thinking this was a proud moment. And I’m sure he’ll be by to tell us aaaaaany moment now. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/31 "2017-12-08T12:51:54Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’ve asked that in another thread on the subject and no one even tried to give an answer. There seems to be no reason to do this other than spite. > > … To fulfill a campaign promise. On paper. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/32 "2017-12-08T13:52:06Z")
If you’re attempting to mediate between multiple parties - showing favortisim toward one of the parties is a bad idea - especially in such a grand manner. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/33 "2017-12-08T14:09:00Z")
It was a moronic move by an ignorant and stupid man. The US can no longer be seen as an honest broker in the Middle East and the Palestinians have every right to feel betrayed. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/34 "2017-12-08T14:37:09Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Well, I’m sure the OP has some reason for thinking this was a proud moment. And I’m sure he’ll be by to tell us aaaaaany moment now. I’m guessing the OP is performance art. That’s the only way I can wrap my head around it. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/35 "2017-12-08T14:51:25Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Hey, why not China? They have no particular emotional stake in the area. They would be the ideal neutral arbitrator, clamping down on both sides with equanimity. They would be oppressive but fair. Because China (like most of disinterested parties) thinks that 1967 borders as a starting point for negotiations is the way to get a 2 state solution. Israel doesn’t like that because they have had decades of settlement activity that they want taken into consideration. Also China doesn’t want to have anything to do with it, there is nothing in it for them to clean up the US/USSR mess. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/36 "2017-12-08T14:55:11Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > What he just did was sabotage any realistic possibility of a peace settlement in the foreseeable future, and US legitimacy in being involved in such. And as I said in another thread on the same subject, the embassy move will probably never happen anyway, since the process is projected to take years, and he’ll be out of office by then, with cooler heads hopefully prevailing. Not really. Is not like anyone thought that the USA has been an honest broker in decades. We are decidedly pro-Israel. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/37 "2017-12-08T14:57:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Trump did this to fulfill a campaign promise to his deplorables and to create headlines, and I predict it will never happen. No Wall. No Universal Health Care. No Tax breaks for the middle class. Has he accomplished anything he promised? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/38 "2017-12-08T14:57:37Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > So, the plan is to build a brand new embassy in Jerusalem. Sounds like the sort of job that requires a top-notch negotiator, someone with real estate experience, and proven skills in financial arrangements! > > Don’t suppose we can put the one we built in Baghdad on rollers and move it down there? > > I’m thinking that building the brand new embassy, gonna take a lot of planning. And study, especially security issues. Oh, yeah, security. More planning. Meetings. Might take a while, even to get good and started. If he can make he Mexicans pay for the wall, do you thin he can make the Israels pay for the embassy. I’d even be OK with them hiring Trump international to make the 450 room 5 star embassy with casino and golf course. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/39 "2017-12-08T14:59:24Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Well, I’m sure the OP has some reason for thinking this was a proud moment. And I’m sure he’ll be by to tell us aaaaaany moment now. Anything that’s good for Israel is in America’s best interests. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854/40 "2017-12-08T15:09:33Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Anything that’s good for Israel is in America’s best interests. So you’d agree that riots are bad for Israel and do not serve American interests? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recognizing-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-a-proud-moment/803854.md?page=3)