On March 26,
1979, Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem
Begin signed an historic peace agreement, which ended (for a period of time) three
decades of hostilities between Egypt and Israel. Six months later, the two leaders
met with President Jimmy Carter at Camp David, and signed the Camp David
Accords, the first peace agreement between Israel and one of its Arab
neighbors.
For their
efforts, Sadat and Begin earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. Although the
peace agreement was looked upon favorably by Israel and the United States, the
Arab world was not pleased. For a period of time, Egypt was suspended from the
Arab League, and Sadat was assassinated on October 6, 1981.
The United
States has long made significant financial investments in Israel. Since the
October War in 1973, the United States has provided more support to Israel than
any other state. Since the end of WWII, the U.S has given Israel $140 billion
(in 2003 dollars) and our annual contribution is $3 billion. On top of that, we
also give Israel $600 million a year for joint U.S. – Israel missile defense
programs.
Although we
have never given any military aid to the Palestinians, the United States gave
the Palestinians $363 million in humanitarian aid in 2017, but the State
Department has requested a DECREASE in that amount for the 2018 budget.
On December
6, 2017, Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and announced
plans to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem in May of 2018, a strong reversal
of 70 years of tradition. When Israel was created in 1948, the United States
and all of its allies decided that Tel Aviv would be Israel’s capital.
Until Trump's decision, the majority of the member nations of the UN (including the United States) did not recognize Israel's sovereignty over East Jerusalem, which came under its control after the Six Day war of 1967. They also do not recognize Israel's 1980 Jerusalem Law proclamation, which declared a "complete and unified" Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Until Trump's decision, the majority of the member nations of the UN (including the United States) did not recognize Israel's sovereignty over East Jerusalem, which came under its control after the Six Day war of 1967. They also do not recognize Israel's 1980 Jerusalem Law proclamation, which declared a "complete and unified" Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Jerusalem is one of the world’s
most fiercely contested swaths of real estate, with each side disputing the
other’s claims. Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of a future
Palestinian state, and most of the world considers it occupied territory.
Jerusalem’s Old City has the third-holiest mosque in Islam and the holiest site
in Judaism, making the city’s status a sensitive issue for Muslims and Jews
alike. Jerusalem is also sacred ground to Christians.
One example of the complexity
of the political situation in Jerusalem is the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic
shrine that is built on the site of the second Jewish temple. It is located
near the Western Wall (sacred to Jews) and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
which is built on the sites where Jesus was crucified and buried.
Although
Trump and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson still felt that peace in the
Middle East is possible, an embassy move will make that goal virtually
impossible, and Trump’s Jewish son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will be completely
useless as a negotiator. As a result, Trump’s actions could easily reverse 70
years of progress in Israel.
After the
horrors of the Holocaust became known, the United States and its allies felt
that establishing a Jewish homeland would help to repair some of the damage
done by the Nazis. Some of that damage can be experienced by watching Oprah
Winfrey and Elie Weisel walk through Auschwitz:
Despite
opposition from the British, who opposed the creation of both a Jewish state
and a Palestinian state, the new state of Israel was created on May 14, 1948.
The very
next day, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria declared war on Israel. The war lasted until
March 10, 1949, but resulted in a victory for Israel. It was the first of EIGHT
wars between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
In February
of 2017, the New York Times published a survey done by the 170 members of
American Political Science Association’s Presidents and Executive Politics
section. The survey concluded that Barack Obama is now rated as the 8th
best president in our country’s history. Donald Trump is rated dead last. If
you consider only the opinion of the Republican scholars, Trump comes in 5th
from the bottom.
In addition
to saving the economy, and the auto industry, Obama was award the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1979 for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen
international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".
Since his election, Trump has done everything that he could
to reverse Obama’s achievements. Due to his envy of Obama, he also
has sent TWO forged Nobel Peace nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize to the Nobel committee in Norway.
It’s impossible to tell what the final outcome of Robert
Mueller’s investigation will lead to, but it is still entirely possible that
Trump may well be the first president in our country’s history to be removed
from power by a port star.
