EVEN before Donald Trump issued his proclamation recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, stiff opposition was brewing. Pope Francis and the Supreme Leader of Iran denounced his plan to move America’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. So did the UN Secretary-General, the prime minister of Italy and a global chorus of diplomats. If anything, opposition from such grandees emboldened Mr Trump. On December 6th he jettisoned most of the conventional wisdom about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Without preconditions, Mr Trump recognised Jerusalem as the historic capital of the Jewish people, “established in ancient times”, and the seat of Israel’s government. In the first taste of a peace plan he is expected to unveil next year, he failed to mention Jewish settlements in the West Bank or the Palestinians’ claims to Jerusalem. It was, as he said, “very fresh thinking”. The proclamation delighted Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who hailed it as “a historic day” for which Israel is “profoundly grateful”.

Since David Ben Gurion moved his government to Jerusalem in 1949, Israel has been the only country with a capital that is not formally recognised by the rest of the world. The city is still considered by the UN a corpus separatum—a separate entity under international jurisdiction. On the ground this has never been the case. Until 1967, Jerusalem was split between Israel and Jordan, and since that year’s six-day war, it has been solely under Israeli control. But even Israel’s closest allies have continued maintaining their embassies 40 miles (65km) to the west in Tel Aviv.

Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and previously the Palestinians’ chief negotiator with Israel, said that Mr Trump had “disqualified his country from any possible role in the peace process”. But Mr Trump insisted that he still intends to honour his earlier promise to achieve the “ultimate deal”—peace between Israel and the Palestinians. He stressed: “we are not taking a position on any final status issues, including the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, or the resolution of contested borders.” But it will be hard from this point to get the Palestinians to return to the negotiations that they abandoned three years ago.

The move of the embassy could in theory be stalled by a future president, though that is unlikely. Meanwhile, protests are erupting. The Palestinians still insist that part of Jerusalem should serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state, as a condition of any peace deal. Some 300,000 Palestinians live in Jerusalem—nearly a third of the city’s population. They carry Israeli identity cards and can travel and work throughout Israel. But they are not Israeli citizens and cannot vote in national elections. Their status remains to be resolved.

Mr Trump has based much of his Middle East policy on building a closer alliance with Saudi Arabia. The Saudis, along with America’s other Arab allies, publicly opposed the recognition of Jerusalem. But it is unlikely that Mr Trump would have gone ahead if they had not privately assured him that they had bigger things to worry about. The Sunni Arab states are less concerned about Palestine than about Iran’s growing influence, and finding ways to contain it (see article). Israel, behind the scenes, has become a tacit ally of the Saudis in the Sunni-Shia conflict.

Holy city, unholy mess

This leaves the Palestinians isolated, a sentiment palpable on the streets of East Jerusalem this week. They feel abandoned not only by America but by the Arab world and even by their own leaders. Jawad Siam, a local leader in Silwan, an Arab district of Jerusalem, has harsh words for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. “Abbas is always saying there is still a chance for diplomacy, and now Trump is making Abbas very small in front of his people.” Ever since his election in 2005, Mr Abbas has rejected violence and called upon his people to pursue statehood through diplomacy. Now the calls from within the Palestinian national movement for a return to intifada, ie, a violent uprising, are growing.

However, many Palestinians remain weary of conflict with the Israelis. “Why should we start another intifada and lose our sons?” asked Fowzi Iyad, a trader from Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter. “Just because Trump said he’s going to build an embassy? Let’s see Trump building something. All he does is talk.”

Correction: The original version of this story said that Mr Trump issued his Jerusalem proclamation on December 4th. This actually happened two days later. Sorry for the error.