As the US breaks with the status quo by moving its embassy from Tel Aviv – and a spate of nations declare that they’re willing to follow suit – we assess Jerusalem’s potential as a diplomatic city.
With fanfare and fireworks, the new US embassy opened in Jerusalem last May. The US diplomatic mission’s move from Tel Aviv was castigated by Palestinian leaders, and European and Middle Eastern allies, as irresponsible, dangerous and even catastrophic; deadly confrontations between Israel and Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza underlined these warnings. But Israeli and US leaders speaking from the podium promised a new “realistic” beginning for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and foretold that a diplomatic tsunami was about to hit Jerusalem . . .
Read the full story from 2019 in Monocle Magazine’s annual Forecast edition.
Samuel Thrope 