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White House Says Its Closeness to Israel Is an Asset for Palestinians
(Jerusalem Post) Michael Wilner - After the Temple Mount dispute was settled, several Palestinian officials said the Trump administration's handling of the crisis confirmed its political alignment with the Israeli government. Yet White House officials are embracing that position, claiming it is in fact an asset for the Palestinians that Trump and his team are close with the Israelis. A senior White House official said, "We put into practice the relationships that we developed over the past several months. We understand there will be ups and downs throughout these discussions. This did not derail our optimism over what we can accomplish [to pursue peace]." One senior Israeli official said the whole crisis was an instructional moment for the Trump administration. "People went nuts. You have metal detectors around every holy place in the world - why not have them here? People realized that it wasn't about the Temple Mount - it was about Jews."