Article snippet: JERUSALEM — President Trump’s visit to Jerusalem next week has spun into a difficult diplomatic test with Israel, one of the United States’ firmest allies. Not only has Mr. Trump given Russian diplomats intelligence that officials say came from Israel, but some of his aides have also publicly questioned whether one of the holiest Jewish sites, the Western Wall, truly belongs to Israel. And an accompanying host of small diplomatic misunderstandings and missteps have begun adding up to more than their parts. Mr. Trump is also testing Israeli politics in a way few on the right here envisioned when he became president and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him Israel had “no greater friend.” At the heart of it all is Mr. Trump’s quest, with the wider Arab world, for “the ultimate deal” to finally bring peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. And during Mr. Trump’s visit here, it is his friend and ally Mr. Netanyahu who is most likely to be seen as the least cooperative, given the pressure he faces from settlers in the occupied West Bank and members of his own coalition, most of them deeply opposed to the idea of a two-state solution — one for Israelis, one for Palestinians. At the same time, the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, seen by many as hesitant, or even obstructionist, may seem to be more open to what Mr. Trump wants. It is at once a case study in why this region is so unpredictable and a test of whether the new president is in ove... Link to the full article to read more
Warm Start With Israel Cools as Trump Prepares Visit. What Happened? - The New York Times
>