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Robert M. Danin on Trump’s Jerusalem Move

Violet riots continue in Jerusalem after embattled U.S. president Donald Trump moved to recognize it last week as the capital of Israel, indicating that this issue is indeed a regional and world flashpoint. It generated huge news coverage, both negative and positive, even as any Arab states have condemned the move, along with certain elements of the E.U. We spoke with Robert M. Danin of the CFR and the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School on the local and global politics around Jerusalem — and what the (delayed) recognition of Jerusalem would means for Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinians and Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israelis.

About Robert M. Danin:

Robert Danin is senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a senior fellow at the Belfer Center’s Middle East Initiative at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. Prior to joining CFR, he headed the Jerusalem mission of the Quartet representative, Tony Blair, from April 2008 until August 2010. A former career State Department official with over twenty years of Middle East experience, Dr. Danin previously served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs with responsibilities for Israeli-Palestinian issues and Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. He also served at the National Security Council for over three years, first as director for Israeli-Palestinian affairs and the Levant and then as acting senior director for Near East and North African affairs. A recipient of the State Department’s Superior Honor Award, Dr. Danin served as a Middle East and Gulf specialist on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, and as a State Department senior Middle East political and military analyst. Prior to joining the State Department, he worked as a Jerusalem-based journalist covering Israeli and Palestinian politics. He has served as a thought leader for the World Economic Forum since 2012.