Trump ‘Considering’ Moving Embassy To Jerusalem? You Can’t Be Serious.

Image by Getty Images

By Nathan Guttman March 27, 2017

Vice President Mike Pence’s promise that President Trump is “giving serious consideration” to the idea of relocating the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem won applauds from the AIPAC audience Sunday night.

But the wording didn’t fool veteran Middle East watchers — they say the embassy ain’t going anywhere fast.

Image by Getty Images

One of them, Martin Indyk, a former ambassador to Israel and peace envoy, responded in a sarcastic tweet:

“Trump will still be seriously considering it 4 yrs from now. G. W. Bush seriously considered it for 8 yrs. We’re freiers to think otherwise.”

The term “freiers” is Hebrew slang for suckers.

During the campaign, Trump promised he would move the embassy to Israel immediately upon taking office. His tone changed after hearing from Arab leaders and foreign policy officials that the move could ignite violence, leading the administration to now use more ambiguous language when referring to the possible move.

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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