Trump tells Mideast leaders he will move embassy to Jerusalem, breaking with U.S. policy

[webfact]

Trump tells Mideast leaders he will move embassy to Jerusalem, breaking with U.S. policy

By Matt Spetalnick and Maayan Lubell

 

People and security can be seen outside the U.S Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

 

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Donald Trump told Israeli and Arab leaders on Tuesday that he intends to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a decision that breaks with decades of U.S. policy and risks fuelling violence in the Middle East.

 

Senior U.S. officials said Trump on Wednesday is expected to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital while delaying relocating the embassy from Tel Aviv for another six months, though he plans to order his aides to immediately begin planning such a move.

 

U.S. endorsement of Israel's claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital would reverse long-standing U.S. policy that the city's status must be decided in negotiations with the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. The international community does not recognise Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions.

 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Arabia's King Salman, who all received telephone calls from Trump, joined a mounting chorus of voices warning that unilateral U.S. steps on Jerusalem would derail a fledgling U.S.-led peace effort and unleash turmoil in the region.

 

The White House said that Trump had also spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a longtime proponent of a U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem.

 

Netanyahu's office did not respond to a request for comment, but a senior Israeli minister welcomed Trump's decision while vowing that Israel would be prepared for any outbreak of violence.

 

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said that Trump, who promised during the presidential campaign to move the embassy in Israel, would give a speech on Wednesday about his Jerusalem decision. "The president I would say is pretty solid in his thinking at this point," she said, declining to provide details.

 

Trump notified Abbas "of his intention to move the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem," Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said.

 

Abbas, in response, "warned of the dangerous consequences such a decision would have to the peace process and to the peace, security and stability of the region and of the world" and also appealed to the Pope and the leaders of Russia, France and Jordan to intervene.

 

The Jordanian monarch, whose dynasty is the custodian of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, told Trump that moving the embassy would have "dangerous repercussions" for the region and would obstruct U.S. efforts to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, according to a palace statement.

 

King Salman stressed to Trump that any U.S. announcement on the status of Jerusalem would "inflame Muslim feelings all over the world,” the Saudi Press Agency said.

 

None of the leaders' statements said whether Trump specified the timing of an embassy move, a notion supported by successive governments in Israel, a close U.S. ally.

 

But U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump was expected to sign a national security waiver - as have his predecessors - keeping the embassy in Tel Aviv for another six months but would commit to setting the move in motion. However, he was not planning to set a specific timetable, the officials said.

 

The Trump administration would need time to overcome logistical issues such as lack of a secure embassy building and staff housing in Jerusalem, according to one U.S. official.

 

Trump appears intent on satisfying the pro-Israel, right-wing base, including evangelical Christians, that helped him win the presidency but was disappointed when he delayed the embassy move in June. No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem.

 

Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it, an action not recognised internationally.

'A BIG MISTAKE'

 

Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz, who met last week with U.S. officials in Washington, told Israel's Army Radio: "My impression is that the president will recognise Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years, as the capital of the state of Israel.”

 

Asked whether Israel was preparing for a wave of violence if Trump recognises Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, he said: "We are preparing for every option. Anything like that can always erupt. If Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) will lead it in that direction then he will be making a big mistake.”

 

Islamist militant groups such as al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah have in the past tried to exploit Muslim sensitivities over Jerusalem to stoke anti-Israel and anti-U.S. sentiment.

 

Asked whether Trump recognised that his Jerusalem decision could spark violence, Sanders said: "A number of things have been looked at that have been weighed into the president's decision."

 

Senior U.S. officials told Reuters some officers in the State Department were also deeply concerned and the European Union, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League all warned that any such declaration would have repercussions across the region.

 

Turkey threatened on Tuesday to cut diplomatic ties with Israel if Trump recognises Jerusalem.

 

Katz took to Twitter to reject Turkey's threat and reiterate Israel's position on the city, which is one of a long list of stumbling blocks in years of failed peace talks with the Palestinians.

 

A U.S. official said the consensus U.S. intelligence estimate on U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital was that it would risk triggering a backlash against Israel, and also potentially against U.S. interests in the Middle East.

 

It is also likely to upset an Israeli-Palestinian peace push led by Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, in pursuit of what the U.S. president has called the "ultimate deal." The initiative has made little progress.

 

The White House said in a statement that in calls with Israeli and Arab leaders, Trump "reaffirmed his commitment to advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks" and "underscored the importance of bilateral cooperation with each partner."

 

Arab criticism of Trump's plan contrasted sharply with the praise Washington's traditional Arab allies heaped on him at the beginning of his administration. They saw Trump as re-engaging in the region after what they perceived as former President Barack Obama’s distancing of himself from them, as well as taking a tougher stand against Iran.

 

The European Union's top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, said on Tuesday that "any action that would undermine" peace efforts to create two separate states for the Israelis and the Palestinians "must absolutely be avoided."

 

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has “consistently warned against any unilateral action that would have the potential to undermine the two-state solution,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

 

(Additional reporting by Dan Williams and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem,; Daren Butler and Ezki Erkoyun in Turkey; Steve Holland, Yara Bayoumy, Arshad Mohammed, Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Suleiman Al-Khalidiin Amman, and Ingrid Melander in Paris; Writing by Matt Spetalnick and Andrew Heavens; Editing by Alison Williams, Dan Grebler, Toni Reinhold)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-06

[Odysseus123]

Goodness me...and I have never posted about Trump or US politics before.

[ezzra]

Good or bad move, time will tell, but something has to be done to shake off this stalemate, Mexican standoff situation that has dogged a many world leaders and  several past US presidents, maybe now both parties will get off their collective assess and face the new situation....

[craigt3365]

11 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Good or bad move, time will tell, but something has to be done to shake

off this stalemate, Mexican standoff situation that has dogged a many

world leaders and several past US presidents, maybe now both parties

will get off their collective assess and face the new situation....

Has bigger things to deal with. Can't believe his supporters even care about this.

 

Perhaps he's just doing it to take attention off his investigations?

[klauskunkel]

He needs to be perceived as a tough guy. Like trading insults with Kim. Now moving embassy to Jerusalem, against advice. 

Donald, you wanna show the world how tough you are? Take on Putin...

Yup, thought so.

[nobodysfriend]

He might be the president of the US  but he is not a Diplomat .

[dexterm]

It will certainly be a game changer, the emphasis on game because peace talks about a two state solution have been a charade for decades. Now that Trump has pre-empted the most sensitive issue of all, Jerusalem, whose final status according to the Oslo Accords was to be left until the end of negotiations,  peace talks and his ultimate deal are dead. Maybe that is his intention anyway, because he knew Kushner was about to fail.

 

Nor will the EU and other global powers any longer be able to pay lip service to and hide behind 'We can't interrupt on-going negotiations for a two state solution.'

 

Palestinians now have no other choice but to reapply for UN full member status, and I think they will get the vote this time with more countries sympathetic after this Trump stunt. Then prosecute Israel in the ICC for war crimes and invasion of their land.
And IMO they should make a claim for equal rights in a one state solution, as Abbas recently announced.

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/1.813524  (whole speech well worth reading)

 

I can't see Trump getting a friendly reception again in Saudi Arabia. US personnel in the Middle East have been told to take care....not that Trump envisaged this decision causing any trouble! 

The Arab world should now turn to Russia for its arms and as the main player in peace negotiations.

 

As a poster above observed Trump is certainly no diplomat. His actions do not help solve the conflict; they make it worse.

Edited December 6, 2017 by dexterm

[dexterm]

In June Trump said he was waiving the moving of the embassy recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital in order to "maximise the chances" for a new US-led push for what he has called the "ultimate deal" of Israeli-Palestinian peace. 
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40124027

 

So what's changed? Is he now trying to minimize the chances of a peace deal?

[gamini]

15 minutes ago, dexterm said:

In June Trump said he was waiving the moving of the embassy recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital in order to "maximise the chances" for a new US-led push for what he has called the "ultimate deal" of Israeli-Palestinian peace. 
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40124027

 

So what's changed? Is he now trying to minimize the chances of a peace deal?

 

[Thaidream]

Something is seriously wrong with Donald Trump. Against all advice from both friends and not so friendly countries; as well as his own State Department and Intelligence agencies- Trump wants to go ahead and move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. This will not only kill the peace process; but outrage militants around the World, opening up more ways for them to recruit and radicalize more terrorists.

 

Trump has already pised off most of America's staunchest allies; has moved towards confrontation and possibly war with Iran and NKorea; and now possibly  causing more unrest in the Middle East.

 

Not only is Trump incompetent but I question his mental profile. The man is acting similar to a person suffering from a psychosis. Against all advice; against all rational actions- he chooses time and time again the wrong action.  It's time to invoke the 25th Amendment and get this madman out of the White House and Presidency.

[Jonnapat]

Seems little doubt that one of these days the actions of this imbecile will have serious repercussions somewhere in the world.

[simple1]

Have to wait and see the wording of Trump's announcement, though one could assume he has lost the trust of world leaders. As speculation he could follow Putin and only talk to West Jerusalem.

 

As I recall there were some serious questions marks regards Kushner role for the M.E. Some recent stuff regards Kushner; seems to be way out of depth and completely unsuitable.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/04/politics/jared-kushner-rex-tillerson-middle-east/index.html

 

http://www.jpost.com/American-Politics/Kushner-did-not-disclose-heading-of-foundation-that-funded-settlement-projects-517034

[Jsinbkk]

Trump is a man of action, willing to go against status quo. It's about time we supported our allies and told the radical Islamic Nuts to get stuffed. 

 

What did Obama do in eight years?  Nothing

[mamypoko]

putz

[ilostmypassword]

25 minutes ago, Jsinbkk said:

Trump is a man of action, willing to go against status quo. It's about time we supported our allies and told the radical Islamic Nuts to get stuffed. 

 

What did Obama do in eight years?  Nothing

So on the one hand he's trying to forge an alliance with the Sunnis to fight Iran and on the other he's decided to antagonize them and make that task immensely more difficult for the sake of what exactly?

From my perspective not a bad outcome but from his? Does he even have a perspective?

[Morch]

5 hours ago, ezzra said:

Good or bad move, time will tell, but something has to be done to shake off this stalemate, Mexican standoff situation that has dogged a many world leaders and  several past US presidents, maybe now both parties will get off their collective assess and face the new situation....

 

Do tell how can this be construed as a "good move", or how will it help getting parties to the negotiation table?

[Morch]

 

@dexterm

 

As to whether Trump's actual statement would be an actual "game changer", would depend on what is actually said and how his words will be received. As Trump's been known to go back on statements, promises and words, perhaps better to wait and see before making dire pronouncements.

 

I doubt very much the notion that Trump had a deliberate plan to foil negotiations. Trump isn't one to hype failures, but rather likes to bask in self-glorification. That, and the erratic nature attributed to many of his policy (and more so, foreign policy) decisions and statements.

 

As for your "no other choice" nonsense - there are always choices, unless one is a fanatic or a zealot. Same goes for the Arab world turning wholesale to Russia. Russia's increased role in the ME is a parallel development, and pinning it on this issue is more of your usual co-opting tactics. Wishful thinking, perhaps.

 

 

Edited December 6, 2017 by Morch

[Morch]

47 minutes ago, Jsinbkk said:

Trump is a man of action, willing to go against status quo. It's about time we supported our allies and told the radical Islamic Nuts to get stuffed. 

 

What did Obama do in eight years?  Nothing

 

Obama's administration was way more invested in solving the conflict than Trump's is. Success on this front is usually dismal, regardless.

 

The  Palestinian Authority does not generally fall under the label of "radical Islamic Nuts". And as for "allies" - pretty much all of the USA's allies, regional and otherwise, advice against this move.

[webfact]

In break with decades of U.S. policy, Trump to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital

By Steve Holland

 

Israeli soldiers tour an area in Jerusalem's Old City December 5, 2017 REUTERS/Ammar Awad

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will announce on Wednesday that the United States recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and will move its embassy there, breaking with longtime U.S. policy and potentially stirring unrest.

 

Despite warnings from Western and Arab allies, Trump in a 1 p.m. (1800 GMT) White House speech will direct the State Department to begin looking for a site for an embassy in Jerusalem as part of what is expected to be a years-long process of relocating diplomatic operations from Tel Aviv.

 

Trump is to sign a national security waiver delaying a move of the embassy, since the United States does not have an embassy structure in Jerusalem to move into. A senior administration official said it could take three to four years to build an embassy.

 

Still, Trump's decision, a core promise of his campaign last year, will upend decades of American policy that has seen the status of Jerusalem as part of a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as their capital.

 

Washington's Middle East allies all warned against the dangerous repercussions of his decision when Trump spoke to them on Tuesday.

 

“The president believes this is a recognition of reality,” said one official, who briefed reporters on Tuesday about the announcement. "We’re going forward on the basis of a truth that is undeniable. It’s just a fact."

 

Senior Trump administration officials said Trump's decision was not intended to tip the scale in Israel's favour and that agreeing on the final status of Jerusalem would remain a central part of any peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

 

In defending the decision, the officials said Trump was basically reflecting a fundamental truth: That Jerusalem is the seat of the Israeli government and should be recognised as such.

 

The Palestinians have said the move would mean the "kiss of death" to the two-state solution.

 

The political benefits for Trump are unclear. The decision will thrill Republican conservatives and evangelical Christians who make up a large share of his political base.

 

But it will complicate Trump's desire for a more stable Middle East and Israel-Palestinian peace and arouse tensions. Past presidents have put off such a move.

 

The mere hint of his decision to move the embassy in the future set off alarm bells around the Middle East, raising the prospect of violence.

 

    "Our Palestinian people everywhere will not allow this conspiracy to pass, and their options are open in defending their land and their sacred places," said Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.

 

Islamist militant groups such as al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah have in the past tried to exploit Muslim sensitivities over Jerusalem to stoke anti-Israel and anti-U.S. sentiment.

 

'SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS'

 

The decision comes as Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, leads a relatively quiet effort to restart long-stalled peace efforts in the region, with little in the way of tangible progress thus far.

 

"The president will reiterate how committed he is to peace. While we understand how some parties might react, we are still working on our plan which is not yet ready. We have time to get it right and see how people feel after this news is processed over the next period of time," one senior official said.

 

Trump spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jordan's King Abdullah and Saudi King Salman to inform them of his decision.

 

The Jordanian king "affirmed that the decision will have serious implications that will undermine efforts to resume the peace process and will provoke Muslims and Christians alike," said a statement from his office.

 

Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it. The international community does not recognise Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions.

 

“We have always regarded Jerusalem as a final-status issue that must be resolved through direct negotiations between the two parties based on relevant Security Council resolutions," United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

 

No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem.

 

Trump has weighted U.S. policy toward Israel since taking office in January, considering the Jewish state a strong ally in a volatile part of the world.

 

Still, deliberations over the status of Jerusalem were tense. Vice President Mike Pence and David Friedman, U.S. ambassador to Israel, pushed hard for both recognition and embassy relocation, while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis opposed the move from Tel Aviv, according to other U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

An impatient Trump finally weighed in, telling aides last week he wanted to keep his campaign promise.

 

Abbas warned Trump of the “dangerous consequences” that moving the embassy would have for peace efforts and regional stability, Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said.

 

But Trump assured Abbas that he remained committed to facilitating an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, one U.S. official said.

 

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, Matt Spetalnick and John Walcott in Washington and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-06

[Thaidream]

Obama saved America from a financial armageddon and his  World view was respected around the World with the exception of Israel. israel has been bleeding America for years to the tune of $3Billion and stoking the flames in the Middle East. Israel is no one's friend and  its foreign policy is self centered.  Israel wants war with Iran but wants America to pay for it and that is why Obama refused to kowtow to Israel.

 

Trump on the other hand has no view except that pushed on him by his alt right minions who are willing to push America into a  War with both Iran and N Korea and now with the Palestinians if need be. These people are willing to fight to the last but they never enter the battlefield- they will use the young men and women of the US Armed Forces to follow a destructive policy that will make America and its people continuously at war and get poorer each year. However, the alt right which  already consists of the wealthy will continue to gain more wealth as they seeking further control.

 

The way to get rid of these fools and despots is to continuously expose their failed narrative and for the American people to vote the politicians out of office who support this folly.

 

 

[Jingthing]

6 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Has bigger things to deal with. Can't believe his supporters even care about this.

 

Perhaps he's just doing it to take attention off his investigations?

The evangelical American Christians do.

You know the ones that need to see another genocide of the Jews in Israel to fulfill their fairy tale scenario of a second coming / rapture, etc. 

[Topdoc]

It looks like they are deliberately trying to ignite tensions (again)

[Briggsy]

2 hours ago, Jsinbkk said:

 

 

Has Trump actually publicly stated a rationale for this? I know it will be BS but I would like to hear his crazy reasoning.

[dexterm]

Trump is contradicting himself.  Nothing new there then.

He knows that Israel has annexed the whole of Jerusalem and declared it Israel's "eternal and indivisible" capital in violation of UNSC resolution 478 and international law.

He is also aware that Netanyahu recently talked of "shattering the Palestinian fantasy according to which Jerusalem isn't the ["eternal and indivisible"] capital of Israel."  
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.826988

 

In one breath... his admin calls this an undeniable fact..
“The president believes this is a recognition of reality,” said one official, who briefed reporters on Tuesday about the announcement. "We’re going forward on the basis of a truth that is undeniable. It’s just a fact."

 

Then in the next... he implies this is all still open to negotiation.
"Senior Trump administration officials said Trump's decision was not intended to tip the scale in Israel's favour and that agreeing on the final status of Jerusalem would remain a central part of any peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians."

He can't have it both ways. Or perhaps he is just lying again!

 

And after four successive US administrations since 1995 (Clinton, Bush, Obama, and even Trump 6 months ago) have waived the decision, it begs the question...Why now?.. just a month away from when he was supposedly presenting his ultimate peace deal. You'd be forgiven for thinking he wanted to wreck negotiations, and that there was no ultimate deal after all.

[Jsinbkk]

2 hours ago, Morch said:

 

Obama's administration was way more invested in solving the conflict than Trump's is. Success on this front is usually dismal, regardless.

 

The  Palestinian Authority does not generally fall under the label of "radical Islamic Nuts". And as for "allies" - pretty much all of the USA's allies, regional and otherwise, advice against this move.

Obama solved nothing. Trump is right putting a stake through the heart of the "peace process "

 

time to tell the Arabs we get things our way or the highway. 

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, Jsinbkk said:

Obama solved nothing. Trump is right putting a stake through the heart of the "peace process "

 

time to tell the Arabs we get things our way or the highway. 

The "Arabs" will laugh at that.

 

[dexterm]

3 hours ago, Morch said:

 

@dexterm

 

As to whether Trump's actual statement would be an actual "game changer", would depend on what is actually said and how his words will be received. As Trump's been known to go back on statements, promises and words, perhaps better to wait and see before making dire pronouncements.

 

I doubt very much the notion that Trump had a deliberate plan to foil negotiations. Trump isn't one to hype failures, but rather likes to bask in self-glorification. That, and the erratic nature attributed to many of his policy (and more so, foreign policy) decisions and statements.

 

As for your "no other choice" nonsense - there are always choices, unless one is a fanatic or a zealot. Same goes for the Arab world turning wholesale to Russia. Russia's increased role in the ME is a parallel development, and pinning it on this issue is more of your usual co-opting tactics. Wishful thinking, perhaps.

 

 

Rubbish.

>>As for your "no other choice" nonsense - there are always choices, unless one is a fanatic or a zealot. 
Pray do tell what choice the Palestinians have.

 

All that's left on the table now is ..no Jerusalem, and a patchwork quilt of Bantustans in a non contiguous non viable state that constitute 15% of their homeland.

 

It is quite rational and far from fanatical to say: this is totally unjust and impractical, therefore we are offering to share the land in a single democratic state. Sounds like the wisdom of Solomon to me. (1 Kings 3:16–2)

Edited December 6, 2017 by dexterm

[ilostmypassword]

16 minutes ago, dexterm said:

Trump is contradicting himself.  Nothing new there then.

He knows that Israel has annexed the whole of Jerusalem and declared it Israel's "eternal and indivisible" capital in violation of UNSC resolution 478 and international law.

He is also aware that Netanyahu recently talked of "shattering the Palestinian fantasy according to which Jerusalem isn't the ["eternal and indivisible"] capital of Israel."  
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.826988

 

In one breath... his admin calls this an undeniable fact..
“The president believes this is a recognition of reality,” said one official, who briefed reporters on Tuesday about the announcement. "We’re going forward on the basis of a truth that is undeniable. It’s just a fact."

 

Then in the next... he implies this is all still open to negotiation.
"Senior Trump administration officials said Trump's decision was not intended to tip the scale in Israel's favour and that agreeing on the final status of Jerusalem would remain a central part of any peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians."

He can't have it both ways. Or perhaps he is just lying again!

 

And after four successive US administrations since 1995 (Clinton, Bush, Obama, and even Trump 6 months ago) have waived the decision, it begs the question...Why now?.. just a month away from when he was supposedly presenting his ultimate peace deal. You'd be forgiven for thinking he wanted to wreck negotiations, and that there was no ultimate deal after all.

I think you're giving Trump way too much credit for knowing anything. I'm not saying this as an empty insult but there are too many instances where he clearly hadn't a clue about the issues.

[ilostmypassword]

3 minutes ago, Jsinbkk said:

The failure in Iraq was Obama's fault. Bush had it won only for Obama to drop the ball

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/07/politics/panetta-disagreements-obama-borger-interview/index.html

 

 

Yet Bush and :Cheney tried with everything they had to push Malike into letting US forces stay. They failed. And to make matters worse, Maliki, a close friend of the Iranians, was the guy they chose to be the leader of Iraq. No way he was going to let US forces stay.

[dunroaming]

Trump is insane.  He is clearly unfit to hold any office and must be removed.