Israel’s Capital Gain: 7 Takeaways on Trump’s Jerusalem Proclamation

1.It’s a Fundamental Game-Changer

It’s a game-changer says Eugene Kontorovich a constitutional law professor at Northwestern University and director of the international law department at Jerusalem’s Kohelet Policy Forum: “President Trump explicitly included the Kosel and Temple Mount in the description of the Jerusalem he was recognizing thus confirming Jewish sovereignty over the holy sites.”

However didn’t Trump say Jerusalem “must remain a place where Jews pray at the Western Wall where Christians walk the Stations of the Cross and where Muslims worship at al-Aqsa Mosque”? Does that mean the status quo remains and nothing’s really changed?

“The status quo is about access not sovereignty ” Kontorovich says. “What’s crucial here is the borders.”

However Trump also said he wasn’t taking a position on the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. Doesn’t that also mean nothing has changed?