Reading between the lines of the US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital reveals a deliberate ambiguity, leaving the door open to having West Jerusalem and East Jerusalem as the capitals of Israel and Palestine respectively. Indeed, Trump did not talk of an undivided Jerusalem when he recognized the city as Israel’s capital, which means that he has managed to avoid falling into the Israeli narrative insisting that Israel’s capital would be the “Unified Jerusalem”. Some voices denunciating Trump’s Jerusalem move have appealed to the United States to instead return to playing the role of the “honest broker” between Israel and Palestine. Neither the idea of a provisional Palestinian state nor a Palestinian state with provisional borders is new. US Vice President Mike Pence is one of the strongest backers of Trump’s bid, and he personally believes Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel.

Source: Huffington Post December 09, 2017 15:45 UTC