CITY LIVING The world calls it a settlement but to its 20000 residents the yishuv of Ariel is a thriving city. Will it grow further in the Trump era? (Photos: AFP/Imagebank)

T he Obama years are over and President Trump insists he repaired the damage done to the US-Israel relationship in one short phone call he placed to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The two leaders have forged a personal connection and have much in common including their mutual distaste for the mainstream media. Nonetheless the first real test will come when the two leaders meet in Washington D.C. sometime this month.

At the outset the issues seem simple. Both Trump and Netanyahu disapprove of the Iranian nuclear deal prefer good relations with Russia and are publicly for a peace settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The president and prime minister also appear to be on the same page when it comes to fighting radical Islamic terror.

But there are still two outstanding issues to be discussed weighty matters that both the Israeli government and Trump’s Jewish supporters hoped would receive immediate attention.

The first is the promise to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In the opening weeks of his presidency Trump has danced around the issue and it’s not clear whether the hesitation is on his side or Israel’s.