How Donald Trump could soon discard a long-standing precedent on Israel

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USCPR Executive Director Yousef Munayyer speaks to the Washington Post’s Carol Morello

Every four years, presidential candidates routinely signal their support for moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Then, after they’re sworn into office, they balk when faced with the potential ramifications.

Comments from Trump aides and the mayor of Jerusalem, though, suggest that Trump could be poised to discard yet another diplomatic axiom and relocate the embassy “fairly quickly” after he enters the White House. That move would be highly political, effectively meaning that the United States was recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which it has refused to do for decades out of concern about provoking Palestinians who want part of the city to become their own capital….

The move would be unpopular among Arabs across the Middle East and make it even more difficult for Arab governments to acknowledge publicly that they have been developing under-the-table relations with Israel, said Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights.

“It would fan the flames of a region already on fire,” he said. “I don’t think anyone benefits from that very much.”

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