The United States is Making a Mistake in Jerusalem

    

Moving the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem is a horrible geopolitical a mistake.
Israel and Palestine have been at a state of semi-constant war for the past 69 years. While some peace agreements have been signed, these have been short lived and often break down in the form of rockets flying between Israel and Hamas. Additionally, the Israeli-Palestine conflict is a key part of the complicated dynamic between Sunni Arab states, Israel, and Iran. With relations between the US and Iran at an all time low, any further escalation of tensions could lead to geopolitical catastrophe.

Exactly how President Trump came to the conclusion that giving a massive, proverbial middle finger to the entire population of the Middle East would be better for the United States, I do not know. 90% of the population of the Middle East believes that Israel is the greatest threat to peace in the region. This figure includes US allies, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan. Thus, by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Trump has put his Middle Eastern allies in an incredibly awkward situation. While gulf states have been covertly allying themselves with  Israel against Iran, arab citizens are nowhere near onboard with this plan. This leaves a very angry populace that gulf rulers now have to deal with. Huge parts of Middle Eastern politics are built on hatred of Israel, and recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital is a huge slap in the face to the 90% of Arabs who despise Israel. If the gulf states do not respond to this provocative move by the United States, they risk facing a huge backlash from their civilian populace. 

Recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital has another drawback - terrorism. Terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda regularly capitalize on Palestine in order to recruit more Arab civilians. This not only leads to more attacks against Israelis, but also more attacks against the United States and the western world. This ultimately leads to US troops being deployed on the ground in the Middle East, which results in more destruction, resulting in terrorist groups having greater success at recruitment. Furthermore, the United States is already 20 trillion dollars in debt - and waging warfare in places 10,000 miles away is extremely expensive. Ultimately, Trump’s decision will lead to more terrorist activities and more pain for the United States. 

President Trump has made this move for one reason - to appease hardliner, pro-Israeli conservatives in the United States. But this moves comes at a huge, long term cost. Israel will nearly always be an ally of the United States. There simply is no other country on Earth that can protect a tiny state surrounded by hostile neighbors, other than the United States of America. Meanwhile, other Arab states that are allied with the US are now in a terrible situation given their anti-Israeli populations. Additionally, large terrorist groups now have an even greater recruiting chip to sow more destruction across the world. Recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital is a terrible idea. By recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Donald Trump is only going to create more problems for both America and the Middle East.