Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has threatened the United States and Israel with repercussions. Hamas is calling for another Intifada. A number of the usual suspects, including several totalitarian states that ban Jews from their countries, have “warned” the United States that such a move would cross a “red line.” (Here’s a little secret; most of these governments are posturing and couldn’t care less where the U.S. embassy is.)
Many of the same people who lecture us to stand up to the authoritarianism in Russia or China argue that we should cave to threats of groups that subsidize jihadists and undermine American interests. Why do Booker, Feinstein, or the experts at the Brookings Institution believe that Hamas or Qatar should dictate where the United States puts its embassy? Yes, the move will generate widespread hand-wringing in the world, and there is a good possibility that there will be a new round of self-destructive violence among Palestinians. But if Arabs are willing to embrace extremism and violence because the United States no longer supports a delusion, perhaps the problem isn’t Israel?
