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From a political problem to an urban issue: this is how Trump changed his life in Jerusalem

The green light given by the outgoing president to Israel on the side of weakening the PA, put the residents of the east of the city with their backs to the wall.

The relocation of the embassy and the recognition of the capital deepened the feeling that the solution to their problem lies with Israel.

Experts estimate that even if Biden wants to, he will have a hard time changing direction when it comes to developments in the city

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• Jerusalem

• Donald Trump

• East Jerusalem

• USA embassy

• Silwan

Maya Horodnichano

Friday, 15 January 2021, 16:34

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Photo: Reuters, Editing: Yossi Alter

This story can and should be started from the middle: Hundreds of participants, including the political elite in Israel and the United States, gathered in the Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem.

The event: the ceremony of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the capital of Israel.

The caressing rays of the May 2018 sun helped intensify the euphoria, sponsored by the friend who entered the White House just about a year earlier.

The pastoral setting managed to make the dozens of Palestinians killed and thousands of wounded happy against the move in the Gaza Strip.

The election of the outgoing President of the United States, Donald Trump, as the 45th President of the United States about four years ago, was accompanied by prophecies of rage alongside hopes regarding Jerusalem.

Each according to his positions.

Two weeks before the end of his term, researchers and activists point to the changes that have taken place under the auspices of the green light he has given Israel - some more symbolic and others practical.

Next to them is a question mark over incoming President Joe Biden's future policy.

The relocation of the embassy was certainly the main milestone in everything related to Trump's actions in Jerusalem, after recognizing it as the capital of Israel.

Even if the activity was not fully transferred, the move was significant for the Israeli presence in the east of the city.

"Trump's decision to move the embassy was a turning point, which gave the Israeli government an opportunity to deepen Israelisation and its grip on the neighborhoods," explains Prof. Yitzhak Reiter, head of the Department of Palestine Studies at Ashkelon Academic College.

"It strengthened the ability to make the Palestinians living in Jerusalem more Israeli, more pragmatic. In fact, Israel disconnects the residents of the east of the city from the Arab West Bank and makes them more Arab-Israelis."

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Hopes in the face of prophecies of wrath.

Trump hides a note at the Western Wall during his visit to Jerusalem in 2017 (Photo: AP)

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, about 356,000 people, who constitute 38% of Jerusalem's residents, are Arabs.

They cannot be treated as one piece.

Despite the physical difficulties since the fence was erected, many of them still maintain close ties with the West Bank, whether as part of work or family.

And yet, the connection to the west of the city has also become inseparable over the years.

Dr. Amnon Ramon of the Jerusalem Policy Research Institute believes that this trend intensified even more in Trump's day, given the weakening of the Palestinian Authority and the lack of a political process. He said Palestinians in the city's eastern neighborhoods are becoming more practical in their approach to Israeli authorities. 2014, "he noted." There is a development of a more pragmatic attitude towards the Israeli government and towards what it offers, from a perception that it is difficult to see that anything will move in the future.

Some say that in fact the PA has to some extent given up and the Israeli side, which received American sponsorship during the Trump era, has lost a large part of its restraints.

This understanding also affects the Palestinian side - which prefers to take a pragmatic approach in such a reality. "

Jerusalem in the Trump Age

• May 22, 2017:

  Trump visits the Western Wall - First visit by an incumbent American president

• December 6, 2017: The

  United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel

• May 14, 2018:

  Inauguration of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem

• January 28, 2020:

  Publication of the Century Deal, according to which a united Jerusalem will be largely under Israeli sovereignty, including the entire Old City and neighborhoods in East Jerusalem

• February 18, 2020: A

  plan was submitted to build thousands of housing units in Atarot, but has not yet been discussed

• November 15, 2020: The

  tender opens for the construction of 1,257 housing units in the Givat Hamatos neighborhood

• December 2020: The

  plan to build hundreds of housing units in Har Homa has been submitted to the opposition

As part of this trend, one can see, among other things, the continuing increase in the number of applications for citizenship of residents living in the status of permanent residents.

While in the years 2003-2000 less than a hundred applications for citizenship were submitted, as of 2009 more than 700 applications are submitted every year and by 2020 already 1,633 applications have been submitted.

In addition, in recent years there has been an increase in the number of students studying the Israeli curriculum, a move that Israel is promoting, among other things, as part of the five-year plan approved in 2018 for the development of the east of the city.

Netanyahu and Ambassador Friedman at the inauguration of the Embassy in Jerusalem, May 2018 (Photo: Walla! NEWS, Noam Moskowitz)

"According to Dr. Rami Nasrallah, founder of the Interdisciplinary Center for Peace and Cooperation, Trump's steps did not lead to a fundamental change in Israel's policy, but only strengthened the existing one." We continue the policy that deepens Israeli government and does not provide solutions, "he said. "We have become on the fringes of West Jerusalem and cut off in the West Bank.

There is no functional and institutional and cultural continuity and this has created more problems.

In the short term, it seems that Israel wants to deepen sovereignty and there is law enforcement, but in the long run it will create more problems.

There are about 400,000 Palestinians who are not citizens, and Israel probably does not want to turn them into such.

This creates another layer of conflict is also an urban, economically too. "In this context, he claims, has seen the issue of promoting housing construction in the Palestinian population growing. While recently in the municipality promote construction plans to the Palestinians, but they are the main instrument for illegal construction there.

Before transfer The embassy's most notable change was the construction plans in the east of the city - for Jews. While in the Obama era, plans across the Green Line in their various stages drew criticism and condemnation, during Trump's days, they did not provoke special treatment. Zeev, Ramot and Ramat Shlomo. by contrast, plans for new neighborhoods predecessor only in the last year. the tender program Givat plane, provoked international criticism and stalled for years, was published only after the election of Biden and plan to build a new neighborhood area Atarot airport is promoted so far slowly.

"Although All in all, there was a feeling that there was no international backing for such measures, and apparently when Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem he did not signal to Israel that there was a green light to do whatever they wanted and that other countries should be considered, "said Prof. Reiter.

Aviv Tatarsky from Ir Amim believes that the delay may have been due, among other things, to the wait for the "deal of the century", so only after its publication were the more significant steps taken to promote the plans for Givat Hamatos and Atarot.

"According to Dr. Rami Nasrallah, founder of the Interdisciplinary Center for Peace and Cooperation, Trump's steps did not lead to a fundamental change in Israel's policy, but only strengthened the existing one." We continue the policy that deepens Israeli government and does not provide solutions, "he said. "We have become on the fringes of West Jerusalem and cut off in the West Bank.

There is no functional and institutional and cultural continuity and this has created more problems.

In the short term, it seems that Israel wants to deepen sovereignty and there is law enforcement, but in the long run it will create more problems.

There are about 400,000 Palestinians who are not citizens, and Israel probably does not want to turn them into such.

This creates another layer of conflict that is both urban and economic. "In this context, he claims, has seen the issue of promoting housing construction in the Palestinian population growing. While recently in the municipality promote construction plans to the Palestinians, but they are the main instrument for illegal construction there.

Before transfer The embassy's most notable change was the construction plans in the east of the city - for Jews. While in the Obama era, plans across the Green Line in their various stages drew criticism and condemnation, during Trump's days, they did not provoke special treatment. Zeev, Ramot and Ramat Shlomo, on the other hand, plans for new neighborhoods were promoted only last year. The tender for the Givat Hamatos plan, which provoked international criticism and was delayed for years, was announced only after Biden's election and the plan to build a new neighborhood.

Construction promotion came after the turn of the century.

Givat Hamatos neighborhood (Photo: official website, -)

"Despite everything, there was a feeling that there was no international backing for such measures, and apparently when Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem he did not signal to Israel that there is a green light to do whatever they want and that other countries still need to be considered," says Prof. Reiter.

"There is also concern about the third-fourth intifada. And this has somewhat restrained the Israeli government."

Aviv Tatarsky of Amim believes that the delay may have been due in part to the wait for the "deal of the century", and therefore only after its publication were the more significant steps taken to advance the plans for the plane hill and crowns.

Urban interest

According to the plan of the century published in 2020, almost all of Jerusalem will remain under Israeli sovereignty, with the exception of the neighborhoods of Kfar Akev and the Shuafat refugee camp beyond the fence, where more than 100,000 residents live.

As part of the plan, it is proposed that these neighborhoods, which are now no-man's land, will become the Palestinian capital with Abu Dis.

Although it is not clear what will happen to the plan, for the residents of the neighborhoods it hints at their future.

"It continues a way of thinking that has come up several times on several occasions since 2015 that these areas will be in a different class," said Dr. Ramon. "For the residents, there is a logic here that indicates an intention to take them out.

For them, the perception is as if they are somewhere on another planet.

Despite all of Israel's efforts, even on the issue of neighborhoods beyond the fence, no outline has been found to address this difficult problem that is becoming more difficult because there are a third of East Jerusalem residents there.

They are becoming more and more step-sons and daughters, and not part of Jerusalem.

The peak is really Kfar Akev, an area has been created there that is without rule and that is the worst situation there is, it is getting worse. "

Map of the division according to the plan of the century (Photo: official website, -)

One of the major trends that has occurred in the last four years is in the demolition and evacuation of houses in the east of the city.

The volume of demolition reached a peak this year of more than 140 dwellings, and the number of those facing evacuation is also increasing.

Although this is related, among other things, to the Kaminitz law, which is intended to increase enforcement of construction offenses, as well as to legal proceedings that began earlier, it is possible that under another administration this would not have gone unanswered.

"The United States has exerted political pressure when it comes to freezing construction, it no longer exists. Before the Trump era they intervened in house demolitions and asked questions, and now they have given a free hand," Nasrallah said.

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Aryeh King, who works for the Jews of East Jerusalem, also noted that the degree of American intervention has diminished in issues that he says are urban.

"Today there is a right-wing city government with a right-wing orientation, and a mayor is less politically dependent on the prime minister, so doing things that are necessary - and not making a transition," he said.

It is true that during the Trump era we did not receive headlines from the U.S. Secretary of State or the President about any demolition of a structure.

In fact, we have seen more intervention from the European Union and less from the Americans, because they have abandoned our internal affairs. "

Reinforcement for pullers with wires

The right-wing orientation that King spoke about fits well with the intentions of the leadership in Israel.

One of the more memorable images from this Trump era is of US Ambassador David Friedman breaking a wall in a tunnel in Silwan at the inauguration ceremony "Through the Pilgrims."

The event, which was attended by the wife of Prime Minister Sarah Netanyahu, former mayor of Jerusalem, MK Nir Barkat, and American envoy Jason Greenblatt, testified, among other things, to the strength of the Elad and Ateret Cohanim organizations, which also work for the city's east.

The first deals mainly with the development of tourism in the Old City area and the second with the evacuation of Palestinians and the promotion of Jewish settlement in the east of the city.

"There is no doubt that the Trump era has given a great deal of confidence to the Israeli side - both at the municipal level and at the government level, and also at the level of those pulling the strings on the political side, certainly when it comes to the historical basin, namely the Elad and Ateret Cohanim associations," Dr. Ramon clarified. The great power, the settler establishment and in the case of Jerusalem the establishment of the associations, which also has a great influence in municipal and government politics, feels that this is an opportunity to do a lot of things, which in Obama's day were probably more difficult to do.

"This is also reflected in the steps that Israel was very careful in this period because of the American support expressed in the symbolic event of the relocation of the embassy." He said that to some extent the ties will continue and the power of the associations will be maintained. "The connection with the evangelical groups will not disappear. .

There are already intra-Israeli dynamics.

It is not easy to stop such steps. "

The power of the associations intensified.

Greenblatt, Friedman and Netanyahu at the opening ceremony of the tunnel in Silwan, June 2019 (Photo: Official website, Haim Tzach / GPO)

Evidence of this can be found in a comparison between the conduct of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2009, when he refrained from inaugurating a drainage canal in Silwan, after the publication of his arrival provoked criticism.

"Ten years after the US ambassador arrived to inaugurate the tunnel himself, so it is a political revolution," Hagit Ofran of Peace Now noted.

According to her, the change during this period was more on the declarative and diplomatic level.

"Trump has done a lot of damage to the embassy, ​​and in a very demonstrative way gives Israel a windfall."

On the other hand, on a practical level, she believes that although Israel felt more free to take action, many of the trends that were made were born earlier.

"Development is more linear, you continue to feel more free. It is possible that in another government some things will be stopped."

"Until Trump, Israel had no freedom of action and it constantly had to fend off pressure to divide Jerusalem," Tatarsky added from Ir Amim.

"Trump did two things: he said that Jerusalem is under Israeli control, there is no issue here. And since this is an Israeli issue - then you will do what it wants."

This, he said, is reflected in construction, evacuation and especially in projects such as the cable car to the Western Wall and the Yemeni Jewish Heritage Visitors' Center planned in Silwan.

Now, he believes Biden's test will be Plane Hill, whose auction ends the week he is sworn in.

However, Deputy Mayor King believes that Israel has not taken advantage of the green light as required.

"There has been a change of direction to normalcy, meaning being conducted properly without extraneous considerations, but it is still not perfect," he said.

"Netanyahu did not provide the goods. We live in a country with governance and sovereignty, we do not need a foreign country to interfere in internal affairs as they did in the days of Obama and Clinton and this is something that was completely stopped in Trump's day.

According to him, the main question now is less who the incoming president is but who will be the prime minister and which government will be formed.

Will deal little with the Jerusalem issue.

Biden (Photo: Reuters)

With the exception of the return of the activities of the consulate that served the residents of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, the researchers estimate that at least at the beginning of his tenure in Biden he will rarely deal with the Jerusalem issue.

"Declaratively I think Biden will bring back the principle of two states and that the settlements are illegitimate, but it will be declarative," Ofran said.

Dr. Nasrallah, describing despair among Palestinians in the city, re-opening of the consulate and returning financial aid would be an achievement, but he did not believe "substantial change will disrupt the plans of Israel for building settlements in East Jerusalem."

However, Professor Reiter will appreciate that in the meantime A kind of freeze on activity on the part of Israel, partly due to the elections. "Israel will have to restrain itself, because of course they will have to wait for a new government first.

And the new government will have to find out from the new government what its position is on these issues.

I think there will be statements, by a lot of factors, including within the election campaign, but statements aside and actions aside.

There will be a wait and some kind of freeze until they find out the position of the new administration. "

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