Okay…okay…okay. Joy to the world. Any day, any moment, President Trump will announce that the US Embassy will, finally, be relocated to Jerusalem. That’s the talk…and if it happens, just in time for Christmas, or our Hanukkah, there will be dancing. Not me. (I’m taking Caroline Glick’s word on this, above Jared Kushner’s, who says, not so fast.) Readers of this column over the past years know darned well that I would like nothing better. It would be a dream come true. Also maybe a nightmare. I noted all that back in June in a column titled , “Amen to moving US Embassy to Jerusalem – but at what price?” In other words, under what terms and conditions will this gift be made? I presented it like this back then, but it’s even more important now amid all the excitement? Here’s partly what I wrote: “I can’t imagine such a transaction in Israel’s favor coming without a bill. “Like what? “Could be anything. Could be, 1. Permanent building freeze in Judea and Samaria – the “West Bank.” 2. Population transfer of the 400,000 Israelis for whom the “West Bank” is home – shades of the eviction of Israelis from Gaza under Sharon: 3. Installment and recognition of a Palestinian state. “Could be all of that, some of that or none of that – or some other surprise.” I noted then, and do so again, that Trump does not worry me. Jerusalem is the right place and Trump’s heart is in the right place. So it goes among Liberals, and among those Jewish Liberals still tied to that OLD TIME RELIGION. But Jared Kushner worries me and so does Jason Greenblatt and that entire team of diplomats that remain festooned to a “two-state solution.” The dream is to implant an intolerant backwoods culture onto the most advanced culture imaginable -- and pray that it works. So it goes among Liberals, and among those Jewish Liberals still tied to that OLD TIME RELIGION. Well yes it has become religion, or dogma, that a two state solution is the only answer to the Palestinian-Israeli problem. What problem? It’s a problem only if you make it so and the Saudis have decided that the problem is finished and so are the Palestinian Arabs. The Saudis now seek ties with the Jewish State, at the expense of the PA – if only the old time religionists won’t get in the way. Yes the Saudis, and other Gulf States, have seen the light, and the light is Israel. They’ve had enough of carrying the bags first for Arafat and now for Abbas. All along the Palestinian Arabs ALONE were the problem and finally, in some capitals, hopefully soon enough in Jerusalem as well, clarity has set in. The Saudis and other enlightened leaders have moved on as meanwhile so many from of Our Crowd are still davening from the old hymnbook. They’re still stuck on fixing what isn’t broken. Or according to a quote attributed to Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result.” That is also the definition of a two-state solution. I do trust in Trump to make the right deal for Jerusalem…so long as he listens to his heart and not to his advisers. It’s my personal view that Trump will make the move for two reasons, a, it’s the right thing to do, b, as an act of defiance against the scoffers. New York-based bestselling American novelist Jack Engelhard writes regularly for Arutz Sheva. Engelhard wrote the international book-to-movie bestseller “Indecent Proposal” and the ground-breaking inside-journalism thriller “The Bathsheba Deadline.” His latest is Megyn Kelly unzipped in “News Anchor Sweetheart.” He is the recipient of the Ben Hecht Award for Literary Excellence. Website: www.jackengelhard.com
