Several items reported by Jewish Insider indicate a major push by hardcore Israel partisans to take over the Trump administration. They have long been trying to push out Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has opposed some of the Israeli agenda:
BREAKING NEWS — REXIT REPORT: “White House Envisions Tillerson Ouster From State Dept., to Be Replaced by Pompeo, Within Weeks” by Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman: “The White House has developed a plan to force out Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, whose relationship with President Trump has been strained, and replace him with Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, within the next several weeks, senior administration officials said on Thursday. Mr. Pompeo would be replaced at the C.I.A. by Senator Tom Cotton… It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Trump has given final approval to the plan… [NYTimes]
and:
According to a media advisory, Sen. Cotton is expected to participate in a Saban Forum panel discussion this weekend together with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and moderated by Jeffrey Goldberg. [Atlantic Editor Goldberg went to Israel after college, became an Israzeli citizens, and worked as a guard at one of Israel’s most notorious prisons.] The panel is titled “Before Sunset: The Iran Deal and What to Do About It”
More info:
“This step would kill the possibility of a peace deal any time soon,” said Ilan Goldenberg, director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. “The Arab states would be furious. The Jordanians would be worried. The Palestinians would walk away from any discussion.” … “I would be surprised if they made an announcement about moving it before they come out with their peace initiative because it would undercut the initiative,” said Dennis Ross, the U.S. point man on the peace process in both the George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. “The problem is everyone sees Jerusalem through an emotional lens and it’s so easy to misportray this.” [NBCNews]
KAFE KNESSET — The View From Israel On The Embassy Move — by Tal Shalev and JPost’s Lahav Harkov: Two senior Israeli politicians told Kafe Knesset they believe “this time it is serious,” citing internal pressure from Trump’s evangelical base as the main impetus for the announcement. These officials pointed to the statement by VP Pence earlier this week about the White House “actively considering how and when” to make the Embassy move. On the other hand, this morning King Abdullah II of Jordan already made clear what he thinks about an Embassy move. Other senior Israeli insiders expressed concern that the Channel 2 report itself could have thwarted any intent to make a policy change on the subject at this time…
and
DRIVING THE CONVO: “Trump administration considers moving U.S. embassy in Israel” by Vivian Salama: “Israeli media reports Wednesday indicated that President Donald Trump does intend to move the embassy [to Jerusalem] and that a decision could come as early as Sunday. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said those reports were “premature,” adding, “we have nothing to announce.”
“This step would kill the possibility of a peace deal any time soon,” said Ilan Goldenberg, director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. “The Arab states would be furious. The Jordanians would be worried. The Palestinians would walk away from any discussion.” … “I would be surprised if they made an announcement about moving it before they come out with their peace initiative because it would undercut the initiative,” said Dennis Ross, the U.S. point man on the peace process in both the George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. “The problem is everyone sees Jerusalem through an emotional lens and it’s so easy to misportray this.” [NBCNews]
KAFE KNESSET — The View From Israel On The Embassy Move — by Tal Shalev and JPost’s Lahav Harkov: Two senior Israeli politicians told Kafe Knesset they believe “this time it is serious,” citing internal pressure from Trump’s evangelical base as the main impetus for the announcement. These officials pointed to the statement by VP Pence earlier this week about the White House “actively considering how and when” to make the Embassy move. On the other hand, this morning King Abdullah II of Jordan already made clear what he thinks about an Embassy move. Other senior Israeli insiders expressed concern that the Channel 2 report itself could have thwarted any intent to make a policy change on the subject at this time…
