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EDITORIAL: Donald Trump follows through on promise to move U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem

Donald Trump has his critics aghast because he has the temerity to actually follow through on his campaign promises, particularly when it comes to foreign policy.

Last week, the president pulled the United States out of the Iran deal, a pact he repeatedly lambasted during his 2016 presidential run. Nevertheless, pearl-clutching progressives acted as if his decision had come out of the blue and raised the prospect of Armageddon. Never mind that the agreement was another example of Barack Obama preferring his pen and phone to actual consensus building — Congress never voted on the matter because the former president knew it didn’t have enough support, even among Democrats.

Next up is the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, officially set for Monday. Again, this was one of Mr. Trump’s campaign vows. Congress in 1995 voted overwhelmingly to approve the relocation by 1999. But the measure included a national security waiver that allowed the president to postpone the move every six months. Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama employed that dodge repeatedly.

As Mr. Trump has shown time and again, however, his blunt version of diplomacy has little in common with the more staid and traditional approach preferred by his predecessors and those in the Washington establishment.

In December, Mr. Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. He meant what he said. In February, the president reaffirmed his commitment and scheduled the move from Tel Aviv for May 14, the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding. The new embassy will be housed in a temporary location while U.S. officials search for a permanent site.

Critics have assailed the president for jeopardizing the peace process in the Middle East. Would they prefer the same strategies that have produced failure for decades? In fact, Jerusalem has always been Israel’s capital, even if the United States preferred to carry out some sort of diplomatic facade to appease various interests.

Writing for CNN, Daniel B. Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, asserts that the move will advance the cause of peace.

“Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem will help strengthen the principle that Israel’s claim to the city, born of centuries of Jewish connection to the city, is legitimate and must be recognized,” he argues. “It probably should have been long ago. … I am optimistic that the overdue step of locating the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem can actually bring closer the day when the issue long deemed the hardest in the conflict to solve may in fact become the most obvious.”

Mr. Obama liked to gloat about being on the “right side of history.” When it comes to foreign affairs, perhaps Mr. Trump can show him the way.

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