John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said he’s “concerned” President Donald Trump hasn’t yet moved the U.S. embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and likewise “concerned” the White House chief seems to be softening on support for the Jewish state’s settlement builds.
“I’m concerned about it,” Bolton said, when asked by Breitbart about the administration’s seeming backtrack on the Israeli builds. “I’m concerned about the fact that the embassy hasn’t been moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It has the mark of the kind of thinking you hear at the State Department, that questions like the final status of Jerusalem and the argument that settlement are an obstacle to peace. We’ve been hearing these kinds of arguments for 30 or 40 years, and they appear to have gained some traction.”
Bolton also cautioned against reading “too much into that,” Breitbart reported.
“I’m not saying it’s the end of the world,” Bolton went on. “But if you look at, for example, all of the campaign promises in effect that candidate Trump made, he’s really done an unbelievable job and showed, I think, he’s not a normal politician. … The embassy move is kind of conspicuous at this point, so I worry about it.”
Bolton then said he understands the Trump administration needs a “strategy” before moving the embassy, but “that doesn’t take forever to do, and we’re now approaching the third week.”
So what’s the holdup?
“I don’t know where the vibes are coming from,” he said, to the news outlet, “but I have to say that the fact that this has slowed down, and his comments about the settlements, should lead us to ask, ‘what’s the story?’ I think we need to hear more from the administration on that point.”
Earlier this month, the Trump administration encouraged Israel to slow-go on the settlement builds, saying the construction wasn’t necessarily an obstacle to peace talks but could prove nonetheless unhelpful.
That’s after coming out strong on the campaign trail on the side of Israel, and its absolute right to build in settlement zones.
Then today, there was this, from the Jerusalem Post, pulling from an interview Trump gave to Yisrael Hayom:
“‘I don’t want to condemn Israel. There is a long history of Israel enduring condemnations and difficulties. I do not want to condemn Israel during my tenure. I understand Israel and respect Israel,’ Trump said.
“‘I want peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. And more than that, I think that peace will be excellent for Israel,’ he said.
“‘There might even be a possibility to achieve peace in a way that is larger than the Israeli-Palestinian peace,’ said Trump. ‘I want both sides to behave in a reasonable manner … we could have a good chance of that.’
“Referencing the West Bank, he noted that there was a limited amount of land and that expanding the settlements ate away at the remaining territory.
“‘I am not someone who believes that advancing settlements is good for peace. But we are looking at all different kinds of options,’ Trump said.
“He underscored his desire to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“‘Many people think that it is impossible,’ he said. ‘Many smart people close to me have argued that such agreement can’t be achieved. I don’t agree with them. I think we can reach an agreement and that we need to reach an agreement,’ Trump said.”
Trump also underscored, in this same interview, his opposition to the nuclear deal forged with Iran by the Obama administration, calling it a “disaster for Israel.”
Bolton, to Breitbart, said he hoped Trump and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, would work out any inconsistencies of policy rhetoric in the coming days.
“We’re fortunate, I think, that Prime Minister Netanyahu, who will be coming next week, he and President Trump can sit down and hash all this out. Hopefully, both on Iran and on some of these things like the embassy and the settlements, maybe we’ll see some clarity emerge from that meeting,” he said, Breitbart reported.
It appears that President Trump doesn’t have a clue about the biblical significance of Israel returning to the land in fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Granted that few politicians and diplomats do. Even so, it will be a grave mistake for him to go back on his word in moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and to pursue the so-called ” two-state solution ” of his predecessors. If he yields on these things I believe that his presidency will not be blessed but cursed. Somebody is giving him bad advice, probably the CFR. John Bolton would have been a better pick for Secretary of State than the one he has chosen.