Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/764292
ByBradleyKlapper The Associated Press WASHINGTON Donald Trump's selection of a hard- line pro-Israel advocate as his U.S. ambassador to the Jewish state could signal the end of decades of Amer- ican support for the estab- lishment of an independent Palestine. The president-elect's transition team already has asked the State Depart- ment to assess how to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusa- lem, according to one offi- cial, underscoring Trump's commitment to back Israel in ways no American leader has before. Trump isn't the first in- coming president to prom- ise to move the embassy from Tel Aviv. But his team's State Department request and comments from aides and advisers suggest he will be the first to charge into what promises to be a dip- lomatic and political mine- field. The ambassador-des- ignate, David Friedman, has long ties to Israel's set- tler movement and has supported stances on the far-right of Israel's polit- ical spectrum, well be- yond those of Prime Min- ister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Orthodox Jewish law- yer from New York has sug- gested Trump would sup- port Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank, ef- fectively eliminating the possibility of a Palestinian state. He has served as pres- ident of American Friends of Bet El Institutions, which supports a settlement. "This is about as sharp a break with past policy as I've seen in the last 25 years," said Aaron David Miller, a Mideast adviser under five American pres- idents of both parties. Incoming U.S. leaders have often massaged the long-recited policy points on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such as when Bill Clinton's team stopped call- ing Israeli settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank "obstacles to peace" or when George W. Bush elim- inated the high-profile posi- tion of special Middle East coordinator. Since President JimmyCarter,however,each has stopped short of build- ing a new embassy in Jerusalem. D o i n g so could be perceived as recognizing Israel's right to the entire city, even though the U.S. has promised for years to help found a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital. And it would iso- late the U.S. from almost the entire international com- munity, including its clos- est European allies and the Arab states it relies on to fight the Islamic State group and other threats. "Moving the embassy was always considered too risky, too sensitive, and it was never clear how it re- ally advanced U.S. inter- ests," Miller said. Going through with the move, he added, "will feed every ji- hadi's wildest dreams" be- cause it will feed into the notion of a Jewish takeover of the city. Trump advisers have in- sisted in recent days that the president-elect will fol- low through on his call for moving the embassy. "He has made that prom- ise," Trump adviser Kelly- anne Conway told report- ers Thursday. "I can guar- antee you, just generally, he's a man who is going to accomplish many things very quickly." Palestinian reaction was fierce Friday. Moving the embassy "would be the end of the peace process as a whole," chief negotiator Saeb Er- ekat told reporters in the West Bank, having recently returned from Washington whereheheldtalkswithSec- retary of State John Kerry. Trump said Friedman would "maintain the spe- cial relationship" between the U.S. and Israel. Fried- man said he looked forward to carrying out his duties from "the U.S. embassy in Israel's eternal capital, Je- rusalem." Also voicing anger were liberal Jewish and pro- peace organizations such as Americans for Peace Now, which said Friedman would add "fuel to the Israeli-Pal- estinian fire." Rabbi Rick Jacobs, Union for Reform Judaism's presi- dent, posted a letter online he received from Friedman this summer in which the attorney says the long-time U.S. policy consensus on a two-state solution "is, to me, entirely irrelevant." "The numerous propos- als and initiatives for a two- state solution over the years have brought neither peace nor security to the State of Israel," Friedman wrote, blaming the conflict on "one thing only — radical Islamic jihadism, a cancer that in- fects Israel and much of the rest of the world." While Israelis are "over- whelmingly well-inten- tioned, well-informed, and non-hateful," the Palestin- ians "teach their children to hate and murder Jews," he said. A Palestinian state in the West Bank "will bring missile attacks on the entire population of Israel." The Palestinians want the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war — for their state.Nearly600,000Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Trump appears serious about his intentions. A U.S. official told The Associated Press that the State Department recently assessed the costs and logis- tics of moving the embassy, upon request from Trump's transition team. The docu- ment didn't address pos- sible diplomatic ramifica- tions, said the official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly and demanded an- onymity. An embassy in Jerusalem would put America's Arab allies in a difficult position. Although Saudi Arabia and other Sunni monar- chies have edged closer to Israel, linked by their dis- like for Iran, Jerusalem's status as Islam's third ho- liest city and the Palestin- ian cause's overwhelm- ing support on the Arab streets would make it hard for them not to respond. FOREIGN AFFAIRS Trump's pick for Israel envoy signals break on American policy By Susannah George The Associated Press MOSUL, IRAQ The bodies of two dead Islamic State fighters have been lying on the sidewalk in front of Mu- hammad Jassim's house in eastern Mosul for the past week. Both of the corpses were burned, abused and decapitated, one was par- tially covered by a pastel floral bed sheet. "This isn't something we want our children to see," Jassim said, coming out into the street to approach a group of Iraqi special forces officers touring the recent territorial gains. "I asked them to please take the bodies away. The smell is terrible." As Iraqi forces settle into a routine of slow, steadier progress inside Mosul, more civilians remain trapped living along front lines for longer. Jassim's Mishraq neighborhood was declared liberated from IS nearly a week ago, but remains too dangerous for most aid groups to visit as it lies just a few hundred meters from ongoing clashes. A mortar landed across the street from Jassim's home Thursday and killed three of his neighbors. As the operation to re- take Mosul enters its third month, Iraqi forces con- trol two pockets of terri- tory in Mosul: a cluster of neighborhoods on the city's southeast held by the Iraqi army's 9th division and neighborhoods on the city's east held by the spe- cial forces. "We've received noth- ing," Jassim said. Around the corner from his home a group of men filled plastic buckets with water from a burst pipe in a crater left by an airstrike. Another resident, You- nis Ali, ran up to the of- ficers asking for heating fuel or electricity. Families on Ali's street have begun collecting scraps of wood and cardboard to burn for heat as temperatures have repeatedly dropped below zero in Mosul over the past week. As Iraqi special forces Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi toured the area Friday, he kissed babies for a cluster of television cameras, posed for mobile phone selfies and promised the residents swift improvements. "We want people to know that this area is safe, that the military is here now," al- Saadi said, but he admitted that he expected progress to continue at a slow pace. Iraqi forces have repeat- edly faced punishing IS counterattacks in Mosul's dense residential neighbor- hoods, after swift advances left the Iraqi forces vulner- able. "We are so thankful for these soldiers," Jassim said of the half dozen black ar- mored Humvees dotting his neighborhood, "but what we really need now is a medical center." ISLAMIC STATE Ir aq : Re ta ke n Mo su l to wn s st il l ba tt le -s tr ic ke n, a wa it a id HADIMIZBAN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Civilians leave their houses as Iraqi special forces fight against Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, on Friday. Friedman | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2016 6 B