“The US decision on Jerusalem gave Israeli officials a gift with no strings attached and put a nail in the coffin of the peace process,” Macaron said by e-mail. “There is nothing Pence can say or do during this trip to change that reality.”

“Pence’s fixation with Jerusa­lem from a biblical lens reflects a narrow-minded approach to US na­tional interests in the Middle East,” he wrote. “It is counterproductive to Washington’s objectives of rally­ing Arab countries against Iran and having US troops operate in a safe regional environment.”