By Larry Nevenhoven
President Donald Trump repeatedly promised during his presidential campaign that if he were elected, he would move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
His counselor, Kellyanne Conway, backed up Trump’s words last December in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt: “That is a very big priority for the president-elect, Donald Trump. He made it pretty clear during the campaign.”
Vice President Mike Pence revived President Trump’s promise in March 2017 at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) convention in Washington D.C., “After decades of simply talking about it, the president of the United States is giving serious consideration to moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.”
But is President Trump really a man who honors his promises or just another political hack, blowing smoke into the ears of evangelical Christians and American Jews to garner their support?
The modern history of Jerusalem dates back to the armistice signed after Israel’s war of independence in 1948 when Jerusalem was partitioned into two. The western half of the city became part of Israel, while Jordan controlled the eastern half, along with the Old City. West Jerusalem became Israel’s capital with the nation’s executive, legislative and judicial branches set up there.
This East-West partition remained in effect until Jordan attacked West Jerusalem on the second day of the Six-Day War in 1967. The bloody fighting ended with Israel capturing and annexing all of Jerusalem and the entire West Bank. The city has been unified under Israeli control since 1967.
In 1980, Israel passed a law stating Jerusalem was the “complete and united capital of Israel.” The United Nations declared Israel’s law was a violation of international law and ruled it was null and void. The U.N. also called upon member nations to withdraw diplomatic missions from the city.
American politicians soon entered into the Jerusalem dispute with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush backing the moving of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem during their respective presidential campaigns in 1992 and 2000. Both showed their true colors when they reneged on their promises as soon as they entered the White House.
In 1995, Congress joined the cause by passing a law that declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel and required the U.S. Embassy to move its offices to Jerusalem by 1999. Failure to comply would cause the State Department to lose half of its budget. The law allowed presidents to waive its requirements for six months at a time if it were determined to be in our nation’s best interests. Clinton, Bush and Obama have dutifully signed waivers every six months since the passing of the law.
President Trump will face his first six-month waiver deadline in June.
Now, there’s no doubt Trump is up to his hips in alligators as he attempts to drain the swamp in our nation’s capital. Obamacare, building a wall, sanctuary cities, immigration issues, judicial court overstepping, budgetary problems, job creation and so forth are more than enough monsters for any administration to handle. Yet, let’s be honest. Trump needs the help of Congress and the Senate for significant changes to occur with these issues – and there’s no guarantee these goals will ever be met in today’s political climate.
Even so, it’s my deepest belief that the Lord placed President Trump into the Oval Office for one main reason: moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem. Has the Lord ever done something like this before?
“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)
Over 1,500 years ago, the Lord set a Jewish girl named Esther into a leadership position as the queen of Persia. She risked her reputation and life to fulfill her divine destiny by standing up for the Jews. Esther’s legacy still stands today as a shining example for government leaders to follow.
What are the legacies for the two presidents who defaulted on their promises to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem? President Clinton is a convicted liar, and President Bush is forever labeled with these words: “Bush lied and thousands died.”
It is tough to look in the rearview mirror to gauge the what-ifs of history, but let’s do it anyway. What might have happened if the two presidents had kept their promises about moving the embassy to Jerusalem? It’s my opinion the Lord would have honored His promise in Psalm 122:6 by somehow covering their mistakes.
Clinton and Bush are forever cemented into their presidential legacies, but President Trump doesn’t have to make the same mistake that they did. He can honor his promise by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem now.
Let’s pray he does.
Larry Nevenhoven is a Christian author/businessman who has written over 1,400 articles on his Larry Who blog and published 13 eBooks on Amazon. His letters to editors have appeared in major newspapers from the L.A. Times to the Virginian Pilot with a dozen or so published on WND.
