Jerusalem !

Three of the worlds great religions have the city of Jerusalem as a pivotal point of how their faith evolved.  Centuries ago great armies locked in battle as Christian Crusaders fought Islam for control of the holy city from which the Jews of the world had been earlier dispersed.  The city has settled into an uneasy peace as its status remains undecided - until this weeks startling announcement by Donald Trump, the American president.

Trump has recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and has said that he will move the American embassy from Tel Aviv in recognition of its new status.  Within hours of that announcement clashes commenced between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli military.  There are calls for a new intifada and it seems certain that there will be many deaths as this issue becomes a battle between rock throwing mobs and retaliatory rubber bullet fire from security forces.

It dashes any last hope of success in negotiating a peace deal which involves a separate Palestinian state alongside Israel, although further progress has seemed unlikely. By naming Jerusalem as the Israeli capital Trump has endorsed the Israeli claim and put the American military might on the line to underpin whatever outcome that evolves.

What is causing concern in the minds of other world leaders is the complete lack of warning that Donald Trump was going to interfere in such a delicate matter.  There was no back channel discussion and even Trump's Secretary of State was left bemused.  It is highly likely that this matter was decided by discussion between Trump and his son in law.   The entire American political system was kept out of the loop and many may now question the presidents sanity !

The Presidential system places great power in the hands of the person elected to govern from the Oval office, but there is the expectation that this will be used wisely.  Previous presidents surrounded themselves with advisers with intimate knowledge to guide their decisions but this president seems to rely on an ever changing group which he ignores in favour of advice from his own family.  Many of his decisions are released to the public - and the world - by way of a tweet on Twitter or a rambling diatribe on Facebook.

Donald Trump gathered the votes to win office by presenting himself in a populist guise that appealed to the many whose job prospects and incomes had been downgraded by globalization.  He made many utopian promises that were deemed unsupportable by most thinking people, but which appealed to those with a limited knowledge of both economics and the world trade system.  He broadly promised to take America back to the prosperous nineteen fifties - completely ignoring the fact that this era has been supplanted by a changed world order.

It seems likely that an alarmed Congress may now seek to limit Presidential power, but how that may be achieved is unclear.  His interference in the affairs of the state of Israel by naming Jerusalem as its capital is both alarming and has the potential for other unwise decisions.   Obviously, the prospect of a man like Donald Trump winning presidential office never entered the head of the founding fathers when they worded the Declaration of Independence