Noah Feldman, Columnist

Israelis Will Pay for Trump's Jerusalem Gambit

What the president expects in return for his generosity could be costly in the peace process.

December 6, 2017 at 3:55 PM UTC

Updated on

December 6, 2017 at 7:40 PM UTC

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People."

Kushner looms.
Photographer: Kobi Gideon/GPO via Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

From the standpoint of producing Middle East peace, President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in a speech Wednesday can only be called irrational. It raises the risk of Palestinian violence that could derail peace efforts by his son-in-law Jared Kushner. It makes it harder for crucial U.S. allies like the Saudis to side with Trump and push the Palestinians to a deal. It won’t make Israel feel more secure. And it will hearten right-wingers in the U.S. and Israel whose endgame is actually to avoid a two-state solution.

Yet there is one possible silver lining to the coming storm -- a consequence of the decision that may affect the calculus of the peace process more positively. Trump, intentionally or not, is signaling to all concerned that he is unafraid of backing Israel in ways that go further than the traditional pro-Israel U.S. stance.