In Jerusalem, trilingual English, Hebrew, and Arabic signs have already gone up directing drivers and pedestrians to the new U.S. Embassy to Israel, which is due to open on Monday, the 70th anniversary of Israel’s independence. Meanwhile, Israelis in Tel Aviv say that last week they saw a convoy of trucks moving equipment and supplies from the current U.S. Embassy, located in Tel Aviv. Palestinians openly talk about protests, which will be anything but spontaneous: Posters in Ramallah (where I visited yesterday), the administrative headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, openly call for demonstrations.

Both Israelis and Palestinians expect them to be violent.