With Netanyahu visit, Trump faces difficult test on Israel this week

[TomSea]

With Netanyahu visit, Trump faces difficult test on Israel this week
Olivier Knox  Chief Washington Correspondent  Yahoo News  February 12, 2017

Donald Trump this week could become the latest president to backtrack on a campaign-trail promise to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Or he could become the first president to make good on that pledge, at the risk of unleashing chaos in America’s relationship with the Arab world.

Moving the embassy would mean that the U.S. formally recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, undermining Palestinian hopes of anchoring a future state in the eastern part of the city — and thereby potentially making it impossible to restart stalled Middle East peace talks. Already, Arab allies have warned Trump against the move, while Israel has encouraged him, at least in public.

A decision could come by Wednesday, when the unpredictable president hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. A day later, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will grill Trump’s pick to be U.S. ambassador to Israel, bankruptcy lawyer David Friedman.

Continued: https://www.yahoo.com/news/with-netanyahu-visit-trump-faces-difficult-test-on-israel-this-week-205316534.html

A peek at the coming week.