Adviser says Trump tsunami will shift U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

by WorldTribune Staff, November 10, 2016

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has “every intention” of keeping his vow to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a Trump adviser said on Nov. 9.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Donald Trump in September. /Kobi Gideon/GPO/EPA
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Donald Trump in September. /Kobi Gideon/GPO/EPA

“It was a campaign promise and there is every intention to keep it,” David Friedman told the Jerusalem Post. “We are going to see a very different relationship between America and Israel in a positive way.”

Friedman said one of the Trump administration’s first moves would be to follow through on a campaign promise that Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, made last month, according to which her father would move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

During the campaign, Trump promised to be Israel’s “closest friend” and has indicated that he would take a different approach to Israel’s settlement-building in the occupied territories – long condemned by the Obama administration.

“The hostility will be gone between Israel and the U.S.,” Friedman said. “We know how Obama treated the prime minister of Israel and how [Hillary] Clinton berated the prime minister…. We will move forward with mutual respect and mutual love and a much better future for the U.S. and Israel.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s opposition leader, Isaac Herzog, referred to the rise of anti-globalism populist politics, saying: “The U.S. elections are a continuation of a global trend of rejecting the old ruling elites and a wish for a clear and emphatic change. Trump’s election is the continuation of a social, economic and political tsunami that we’ve seen in many countries, which will also bring about change in Israel.”