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Wednesday 6 december 2017

Trump forges ahead on Jerusalem plan In Europe, Tillerson carries on

Continued from Front authorized to speak pub- Jerusalem includes the holi- but with diminished standing
The United States has nev- licly on the matter and de- est ground in Judaism. But
er endorsed the Jewish manded anonymity. Key it’s also home to Islam’s By JOSH LEDERMAN
state’s claim of sovereignty national security advisers third-holiest shrine and ma- Associated Press
over any part of Jerusalem including Secretary of State jor Christian sites, and forms BRUSSELS (AP) — What do you do when you’re
and has insisted its status Rex Tillerson and Defense the combustible center of America’s top diplomat, fourth in line to the presidency,
be resolved through Israeli- Secretary Jim Mattis have the Israeli-Arab conflict. and the White House makes it publicly known you’re
Palestinian negotiation. urged caution, according Any perceived harm to living on borrowed time? If you’re Secretary of State
The mere consideration to the officials, who said Muslim claims to the city Rex Tillerson, you brush it off, pack a suitcase and hop
of Trump changing the Trump has been receptive has triggered volatile pro- a flight to Europe, as if nothing had happened.
status quo sparked a re- to some of their concerns. tests in the past, both in the On the surface, at least, Tillerson carried on in ordinary
newed U.S. security warn- The concerns are real: Holy Land and across the fashion Tuesday on his first day in the Belgian capital,
ing on Tuesday. America’s Trump’s recognition of Je- Muslim world. stoically sauntering from meeting to meeting in his
consulate in Jerusalem or- rusalem as Israel’s capital Within the Trump adminis- characteristically subdued style. He praised President
Donald Trump repeatedly for holding Iran to account
and demanding equal contributions from NATO allies,
even as he acknowledged getting “a little criticism”
over his management of his agency.
“The State Department is not missing a beat,” Tillerson
told American diplomats at the U.S. Embassy.
Arriving at NATO headquarters for a gathering of
foreign ministers, Tillerson ignored a shouted question
from a journalist about whether he was confident he
still spoke for the president.
Tillerson’s tenuous future in the Trump administration
has followed him to Europe days after the White
House signaled he might be fired — possibly soon.
White House officials told multiple news organizations
last week a plan was afoot to replace Tillerson with
CIA Director Mike Pompeo, a humiliating disclosure
that cast a dark shadow over the secretary as he tries
to sell Trump’s policies to the rest of the world.
Even though Tillerson brushed it off as “laughable”
and Trump tweeted it was “FAKE NEWS,” the damage
to Tillerson’s standing had been done.
In Belgium, Austria and France, Tillerson is contending
with European officials who now have more reason

In this 2017 photo, Jerusalem’s Old City is seen through a door with the shape of Star of David. than ever to question whether he still carries the
President Donald Trump forged ahead Tuesday with plans to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capi- president’s confidence, how much credence to give
tal despite intense Arab, Muslim and European opposition to the move. his policies, and if he’ll remain long enough to see
(AP Photo/Oded Balilty) them through. For foreign governments, it has created
even more uncertainty over dealing with a mercurial
dered U.S. personnel and could be viewed as Ameri- tration, officials on Tuesday administration in which the only voice that seems to
their families to avoid visit- ca discarding its longstand- were still debating the par- matter is that of Trump himself.
ing Jerusalem’s Old City or ing neutrality and siding ticulars of the president’s There were signs that at least some of those leaders
the West Bank, and urged with Israel at a time that expected speech as they were keeping him at a distance. Federica Mogherini,
American citizens in gen- the president’s son-in-law, fielded a flood of warnings the European Union’s foreign policy chief, spent
eral to avoid places with Jared Kushner, has been from allied governments. three hours in meetings with Tillerson before using the
increased police or military trying to midwife a new The Jerusalem declaration occasion to air major European grievances with the
presence. Trump, as a pres- peace process into exist- notwithstanding, one offi- United States.
idential candidate, repeat- ence. Trump, too, has spo- cial said Trump would insist “I don’t think you want a list of issues on which our
edly promised to move the ken of his desire for a “deal that issues of sovereignty positions are different,” Mogherini told reporters. But
U.S. embassy. However, U.S. of the century” that would and borders must be ne- then she offered one anyway: The Iran nuclear deal,
leaders have routinely and end Israeli-Palestinian con- gotiated by Israel and the climate change, Mideast peace and multilateralism
unceremoniously delayed flict. U.S. officials, along Palestinians. The official at the U.N.
such a move since Presi- with an outside adviser to said Trump would call for Mogherini subtly urged the Trump administration to
dent Bill Clinton signed a the administration, said Jordan to maintain its role avoid undermining future Mideast peace talks by
law in 1995 stipulating that they expected a broad as the legal guardian of declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel, as Trump has
the United States must re- statement from Trump Jerusalem’s Muslim holy been considering.
locate its diplomatic pres- about Jerusalem’s status as places, and reflect Israel She took particular issue with Trump’s campaign to
ence to Jerusalem unless the “capital of Israel.” The and Palestinian wishes for alter the Iran deal brokered by the EU, the U.S. and
the commander in chief president isn’t planning to a two-state peace solution. world powers.
issues a waiver on national use the phrase “undivided Still, any U.S. declaration on “The message was heard, I think, loud and clear in
security grounds. capital,” according to the Jerusalem’s status ahead Washington,” Mogherini said.
Trump is likely to do the officials. Such terminology of a peace deal “would It was difficult to tell whether the chilly reception was
same, U.S. officials said, is favored by Israeli officials harm peace negotiation a consequence of Tillerson’s diminished standing
though less quietly. That’s including Prime Minister process and escalate ten- or broader, growing European distaste for his boss’s
why he plans to couple Benjamin Netanyahu and sion in the region,” Saudi agenda. Tillerson, for his part, said all the right things:
the waiver with the dec- would imply Israel’s sover- Arabia’s King Salman told He affirmed the “ironclad” U.S. commitment to NATO’s
laration of Jerusalem as eignty over east Jerusalem, Trump Tuesday, according collective defense, and praised the Europeans
Israel’s capital, according which the Palestinians seek to a Saudi readout of their effusively for their help pressuring North Korea over its
to the officials who weren’t for their own future capital. telephone conversation.q nuclear program.q