ABC News(WASHINGTON) — The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said he agreed with President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital but that the announcement should have been handled with greater diplomacy and as a way to advance the Middle East peace process.
“We’ve seen this in so many places of the world — that Mr. Trump has no appreciation for diplomacy,” Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said to This Week co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday. “I think the president is damaging our national security and standing in the world for his inability to use diplomacy in the right way.”
Trump on Tuesday recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and initiated the process of moving the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv.
Arab leaders in the Middle East and others, including Pope Francis and French President Emmanuel Macron, spoke out against Trump’s decision.
“There was a right way of doing this,” Cardin said. “It should have been done in a way to advance the peace process for a two-state solution. Instead, the president just made the announcement and did not take advantage of that, in regards to the Israelis, and offered the Palestinians very little.”
“He did not really try to move forward on the peace process,” the senator said.
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