The TDS-media are fraught with misinformation on this issue.

In 1995, Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act, requiring the movement of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The act said that Jerusalem should be undivided and be recognized as the capital of Israel. The legislation passed 93-5 in the Senate, and 374-37 in the House of Representatives. (link)

Following passage, all subsequent Presidents’ never carried through with the law; each signing national security waivers to delay moving the U.S. Embassy.

The most recent waiver lapsed at midnight last night; President Trump did not extend another waiver. It is now reported that President Trump has been in discussions with various mid-east leaders to notify them of his plan to follow through on the Jerusalem Embassy Act with a six month phase-in. President Trump will deliver a speech tomorrow outlining the plans.

Ironically, the opposition to President Trump is now claiming such a move will undermine his efforts at negotiating a peace-resolution between Israel and their Arab neighbors. The irony stems from those same voices claiming for a year that any Trump effort to negotiate a peace-deal was an exercise in futility. How can President Trump derail a peace-plan those same voices previously claimed never existed? See the pretzel-logic?

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – President Donald Trump told Arab leaders on Tuesday that he intends to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a decision that breaks with decades of U.S. policy and risks fueling violence in the Middle East. Senior U.S. officials have said Trump is likely on Wednesday to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital while delaying relocating the embassy from Tel Aviv for another six months, though he is expected to order his aides to begin planning such a move immediately.

U.S. endorsement of Israel’s claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital would reverse long-standing U.S. policy that the city’s status must be decided in negotiations with the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, who all received phone calls from Trump, joined a mounting chorus of voices warning that unilateral U.S. steps on Jerusalem would derail a fledgling U.S.-led peace effort and unleash turmoil in the region. (read more)

Remember an important aspect to international policy and engagement on this issue: ‘Each of the aforementioned voices has a domestic audience‘. There is no doubt prior to this decision the primary members of the peace coalition held lengthy discussions on the topic. Each would know it was a matter of when, not if, President Trump was going to fulfill this important campaign promise; accurate communication is one of President Trump’s strongest attributes.

Only President Trump is confident and strong enough to withstand the potential backlash. Never forget what President Fattah Abdel al-Sisi previously shared about his view on the new dynamic President Trump brings to the region.

In the final analysis, the overarching trait that all players respect is ‘strength’. However, President Trump is not approaching the move from a position of disrespecting the concerns of the partners.

[…] But U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump was expected to sign a national security waiver – as have his predecessors – keeping the embassy in Tel Aviv for another six months but would commit to expediting a move. It was unclear, however, whether he would set a date. The Trump administration would need time to overcome logistical issues such as lack of a secure embassy building and staff housing in Jerusalem, according to one U.S. official. (more)