There are probably no two men in the United States Senate who are as different that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York. One of a conservative from deep red Texas and the other a hard left liberal from deep blue New York. However, the two senators have come together to jointly call for the immediate move of the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Trump has so far gone back on his words
President Donald Trump, as has been the case of most Republican presidential candidates, promised to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.
The move has been a matter of American law since the Clinton administration, but every president has signed a waiver citing national security concerns. The real reason is that the Palestinians also claim Jerusalem as their capital, a demand that the Israelis have regarded as non-negotiable. The refusal to follow the law and move the embassy is, not to be too delicate about it, an act of appeasement to the Palestinian Authority.
Why Cruz and Schumer joined forces
Cruz, are most Republicans, is a warm friend of the state of Israel and regards the refusal to locate the American embassy to Jerusalem as a slap in the face of an American ally. Schumer is running outside the mainstream of the Democratic Party in joining in that demand.
For him, support for Israel and the moving of the embassy are both a matter of conviction and a large number of Jewish voters in New York.
That the two men decided to issue a joint statement is no accident. Cruz and Schumer likely do not agree on very much, even what to eat for dinner. That two senators which such opposing views would come together on any issue represents a powerful bit of political symbolism that will be difficult to ignore.
Trump’s position
The Trump administration has denied that the president has gone back on his word where moving the embassy is concerned. The time, the White House claims, is not right. Moving the embassy now would complicate the effort to effect an Israeli-Palestinian peace. The question is not if, but when.
However, since history and common sense tells us that an Israeli-Palestinian peace is not likely anytime shortly, the Trump administration’s position that effectively the embassy will not be moved.
While Trump may find, as many other Americans have learned to their cost, that the Palestinians do not want peace, Cruz and Schumer are serving notice that the time for weaseling is done and it is time to move the embassy.
