U.S. will move Israeli embassy to Jerusalem in May

Early speculation was that the move would take at least a year, if not more. Some speculated that it would never happen because the logistics would prove too difficult. But, um, we do have a president who knows a thing or two about real estate - and is clearly motivated to get this done. Come May, it will be a done deal:

The timetable is earlier than the one offered as recently as last month by Vice President Mike Pence, who said during a visit to Israel that the embassy would open by the end of 2019. The State Department will formally designate a facility in Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood, currently used for consular affairs, as an embassy, even as plans proceed to eventually build a new compound that could take several more years to open. President Trump on Friday boasted of his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, drawing enthusiastic applause. While other presidents held back from such a move for fear of triggering a backlash among Arabs and prejudging final peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Mr. Trump said he defied “incredible” pressure to do what he considered the right thing. “You know, every president campaigned on, ‘We’re going to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,’ everybody, for many presidents, you’ve been reading it, and then they never pulled it off, and I now know why,” Mr. Trump said. “I was hit by more countries and more pressure and more people calling, begging me, ‘Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it.’ I said, ‘We have to do it, it’s the right thing to do.”

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Add this to the list of conservative wish list items talked about for years, and now accomplished under Donald Trump. Say what you want about the guy - say he's not even a real conservative if you want - but when he makes up his mind he's going to do something, and he has the authority to do it, it tends to get done. And Trump is absolutely right that this was the right thing to do. The concern about "inflaming the Middle East" is idiotic. The Middle East has been a dumpster fire for decades, and Arabs in the region don't need the U.S. to give them an excuse to hate and attack Israel. They do it as a matter of course. Moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem will strengthen the Israeli side in any negotiations by taking away one of the threats its enemies used to be able to hold over their heads. Jerusalem has been Israel's de facto capital for years, and every country that has diplomatic relations with Israel has offices in Jerusalem. That's where all government operations take place. But most have maintained their official embassies in Tel Aviv so as not to appear biased in Israeli-Palestinian disputes. What Trump understands is that we are on Israel's side, and we should be on Israel's side, and we should be willing to say so. This move - not just talking about it but doing it, and quickly - makes that clear beyond any doubt. And that's exactly what we should be doing for the benefit of our allies.