Chuck Schumer Backs Trump's Disastrous Plan to Recognize Jerusalem as Israel's Capital
Donald Trump is set to announce his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on Wednesday. He will also announce the White House’s plans to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. As both moves are sure to further destabilize an already unstable region, the White House’s decision has been widely criticized. But Trump is not wholly to blame for the potentially disastrous choice.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat representing New York, told conservative magazine The Weekly Standard on Tuesday night that he had urged Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided” capital. Schumer has actually been pushing Trump on the issue for quite some time. Schumer blasted Trump’s “indecisiveness” on moving the embassy in an October email to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA).
“President Trump’s recent comments suggest his indecisiveness on the embassy’s relocation,” said Schumer. “As someone who strongly believes that Jerusalem is the undivided capital of Israel, I am calling for the U.S. Embassy in Israel to be relocated to Jerusalem.”
Schumer’s support isn’t exactly surprising. He is a fervent Israel backer who co-sponsored a bill that would criminalize support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against the country. But given that Schumer poses as a card-carrying member of #TheResistance, his complicity with the White House’s decision should be, at the very least, unsettling.
Perhaps Schumer’s willingness to cooperate with Trump in negotiating a deal (that actually wasn’t a deal) to protect DACA recipients in exchange for tighter border security should have been a sign. Schumer is only interested in resisting Trump’s agenda when it scores him political brownie points and provides a good sound bite. So WTF, Chuck?