The billionaires, lobbyists, and Christian extremists behind Trump’s Jerusalem move (Source qz.com)

Hours after US President Donald Trump declared that the US would move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, US allies from Malaysia to Indonesia to France to Britain, condemned the move. The unpopular decision reverses decades of American policy in the Middle East. Americans in Turkey, Germany, and through the region were warned by local US embassies to be cautious after the decision, and American children in Jordon told not to go to school. At least 22 were wounded during protests in Gaza and the West Bank, and militant group Hamas called Trump’s announcement a “declaration of war. The decision is not popular at home, either. Trump’s own Department of Defense and Secretary of State tried to talk him out of it, according to multiple reports. Just 16% of Jewish-Americans favor unilaterally moving the embassy to Jerusalem, which Palestinians also claims as their capital, according to a survey of “American Jewish Opinion” taken in September. Overall, 63% of Americans oppose the move.

Trump’s decision is a “profound mistake,” Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J-Street, a “pro-peace, pro-Israel” lobbying group in Washington DC said Wednesday, echoing the words of French president Emmanuel Macron and many others.

So how did it happen? Trump’s decision is the latest example of how special interest groups, rather than US voters or long-term American diplomatic goals, can drive policy. Analysts say wealthy donors, influential lobby groups, and a far-right Christian fringe put pressure on a president eager to show he’s fulfilling his campaign promises.