File this under “promise kept” despite the bad-mouthing from a lot of quarters claiming that Trump was betraying voters by using a measured and thoughtful process.

BREAKING: New US Embassy in Jerusalem will open in May 2018 in celebration of Israel's 70th anniversary, officials say.

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 23, 2018

Via the Jerusalem Post:

The Trump administration will officially relocate the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May, timed with Israel’s 70th Independence Day, a State Department official confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Friday.

The official was responding to a message on Twitter by Transport Minister Israel Katz, who seemed to confirm the move would occur in the spring.

I would like to congratulate Donald Trump, the President of the US @POTUS on his decision to transfer the US Embassy to our capital on Israel's 70th Independence Day. There is no greater gift than that! The most just and correct move. Thanks friend!

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) February 23, 2018

“We’re planning to open the new US Embassy to Israel in Jerusalem in May,” the US official told the Post. “The Embassy opening will coincide with Israel’s 70th anniversary.”

“The Embassy will initially be located in Arnona, on a compound that currently houses the consular operations of Consulate General Jerusalem,” he continued. “At least initially, it will consist of the Ambassador and a small team.”

The consulate, as the story says, is the short-term home of the embassy but there is a site search underway for a new embassy. The site of the consulate has major significance. It is located astride the old “Green Line” that separated East and West Jerusalem. It seems to be a statement that Israel is not going to be pressed to give half of Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

What a great gesture.

I’m not a Darbyite-style Dispensationalist, so I don’t believe that the U.S. establishing its embassy in the rightful capital of Israel carries any theological or eschatological significance. What it does, however, is put the Palestinians on notice that this rope-a-dope, this shuck-and-jive game they have run on every American administration since Jimmy Carter is at an end. We are out of patience and, more importantly, the Arab world is out of patience with this — I believe the technical term is shithole — terrorist entity keeping the Middle East in a turmoil. It is a sign that Israel is there to stay and the Palestinians had better get used to it. It is a warning that unless the Palestinians negotiate final borders in good faith and recognize the geopolitical realities (there is going to be no “right of return” to Palestinians who abandoned their homes 70 years ago) that final boundaries are going to be imposed upon them.

Oddly enough, treating the Palestinians like the churlish, violent f***s they are may very well end up being the chance for lasting peace in the Middle East.