Monday, December 04, 2017

The Art of the Embassy Deal

Is President Trump dangling a move of our embassy to Jerusalem to get more cooperation from Israel (by doing it) or from Saudi Arabia (by deferring the decision)?

Huh:

U.S. President Donald Trump has not yet made a decision on whether to formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a declaration that some expect could come on Wednesday, his adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner said on Sunday.

Everything is negotiable for our president who judges what we get for what we give (or withhold), eh?

Is Trump trying to shape the budding Israel-Saudi Arabia alliance against Iran to our advantage?

If so, I suspect no move will be made because once done you can't hold that decision over both the Israelis and Arab states.

UPDATE: The decision was made but nothing will change for now. So the leverage remains.