White House officials: Jerusalem decision could hurt peace process
CNN Digital Expansion DC Elise LabottJeremy Diamond 2017
By Elise Labott and Jeremy Diamond, CNN
Updated 0753 GMT (1553 HKT) December 7, 2017
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WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 06: US President Donald Trump announces that the U.S. government will formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as Vice President Mike Pence looks on in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House December 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. In keeping with a campaign promise, Trump said the United States will move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem sometime in the next few years. No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem.
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Jewish people take part in the Cohanim prayer (priest's blessing) during the Passover (Pesach) holiday at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem on April 13, 2017, with the Dome of the Rock seen in the background.
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President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman looks on during a meeting with his Russian counterpart in Moscow on January 26, 2015.
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US President Donald Trump walks to Air Force One prior to departure from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, December 4, 2017, as Trump travels to Salt Lake City, Utah.
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WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 06: US President Donald Trump announces that the U.S. government will formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as Vice President Mike Pence looks on in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House December 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. In keeping with a campaign promise, Trump said the United States will move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem sometime in the next few years. No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem.
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US President Donald Trump delivers a statement on Jerusalem from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, DC on December 6, 2017.
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US President Donald Trump delivers a statement on Jerusalem from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, DC on December 6, 2017 as US Vice President Mike Pence looks on.
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JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MAY 23: (ISRAEL OUT) In this handout photo provided by the Israel Government Press Office (GPO), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with US President Donald Trump prior to the President's departure from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on May 23, 2017 in Jerusalem, Israel.
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The "derailment" was a cost the White House was prepared to accept
"We're prepared for derailment -- temporary, I hope," one White House official said
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's decision Wednesday to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital could temporarily derail the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, two senior White House officials acknowledged after Trump's speech.
The question now for those officials: For how long?
"We're prepared for derailment -- temporary, I hope. Pretty sure it will be temporary," said a senior White House official, who acknowledged that the President's peace team has not spoken with furious Palestinian officials since the Trump's announcement.
That "derailment" was a cost the White House was prepared to accept to fulfill Trump's campaign promise. And two senior White House officials said they felt making the announcement now -- before Israelis and Palestinians have reached the negotiating table -- would help mitigate the damage to the peace process.
Why Jerusalem's holy sites are so significant
Why Jerusalem's holy sites are so significant 01:59
"A lot of people put their heads into this decision to see how do we make this happen without at the same time throwing the peace process out of the window," one of the officials said.
"In terms of a moment where it could happen, where it could be the least disruptive at a moment in time, this is the moment," the second official said. "We know there will be some short term pain, but think it will help in the long run."
Trump's decision Wednesday to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and direct the State Department to begin moving the embassy there comes after months during which Trump's peace team has focused on meeting with Israelis and Palestinians, gathering ideas and building relationships. Now, the officials said, they are in the midst of drafting a tentative peace accord, but have yet to seek to draw both sides back to the negotiating table.
But the move left Palestinian officials fuming, with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his chief negotiator Saeb Erakat blasting the US decision and claiming Trump's move "disqualified" the US from mediating the peace process.
The White House officials expressed hope that the Trump administration has built enough trust with the Palestinians to push through the current friction, but could not say when they believed the relationship would be patched up.
Trump's Jerusalem decision promises upheaval
Trump's Jerusalem decision promises upheaval
Trump's announcement on Jerusalem, which bucked seven decades of US foreign policy, came amid a string of setbacks for Palestinians, including a threat from the State Department to close the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Washington office.
While Trump had previously expressed a desire to hold off on moving the embassy to gauge the prospects for peace, the officials said Trump decided to move forward with the announcement because it will take months before US officials know if the current process -- led by the President's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt -- is likely to bear fruit.
And while senior administration officials have expressed hope that the move could help facilitate the peace process, two senior White House officials acknowledged Wednesday that that was not a central goal.
Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital
Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital
"His decision wasn't meant to help (the peace team). It was meant to do what he chose to do, but it was also meant to respect his other goal which is to reach a historic peace agreement," one senior White House official said.
Clarification: This story has been updated to give more precise timing about the impact on the peace process.
CNN's Jim Acosta contributed to this report.
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