Original article title- Is the US undermining the Middle East peace process?

URL: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2018/01/undermining-middle-east-peace-process-180123183502248.html

With the visit of the Vice President Pence to Jerusalem, came an announcement. The American embassy that is scheduled to  be built in Jerusalem had a new timetable: the embassy would be built by “the end of next year.”  this surprise was greeted fanatically by the Knesset, with the exception of Israeli-Palestinian members who voiced their opposition vocally and were later removed from the chamber.  This shift in US Middle East policy is an obvious move from the scrutiny of the Israeli state in the Obama years.  The trip only further cemented the growing divide between the Palestinian authority and the Trump white house. Earlier, the president of the Palestinian authority Mahmoud Abbas was quoted as saying ” …  we will accept the US as a mediator in the peace process nor are we going to accept any plan from the US side.” Ongoing protests are still happening as a result of the President Trump’s announcement. Until the plans are abandoned for the new embassy or a new administration is in place at the White House, the two-state solution looks increasingly idealistic.