upsetting the Arab world and Western allies alike.
Trump announced his administration would begin a
process of moving the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step
expected to take years and one that his predecessors opted not to take
to avoid inflaming tensions.
The status of
Jerusalem - home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian
religions - is one of the biggest obstacles to reaching a peace
agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Trump’s announcement as a
“historic landmark,” but other close Western allies of Washington such
as Britain and France were critical.
Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas said the United States abdicated its role as a
mediator in peace efforts, and Palestinian secular and Islamist
factions called for a general strike and rallies on Thursday to protest.
The international community does not recognize
Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, believing its status should
be resolved in negotiations. No other country has its embassy in
Jerusalem.
Trump’s decision fulfills a
campaign promise and will please Republican conservatives and
evangelicals who make up a sizeable portion of his domestic support.
“I
have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as
the capital of Israel,” Trump said in a speech at the White House.
“While previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise, they
failed to deliver. Today, I am delivering.”
Trump’s decision risks further inflaming a region already grappling with conflict in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Protests
broke out in areas of Jordan’s capital, Amman, inhabited by Palestinian
refugees, and several hundred protesters gathered outside the U.S.
consulate in Istanbul.
The United States is
asking Israel to temper its response to Trump’s announcement because
Washington expects a backlash and is weighing the potential threat to
U.S. facilities and people, according to a State Department document
seen by Reuters.
Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and
indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there. Palestinians
want the capital of an independent state of theirs to be in the city’s
eastern sector, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and
annexed in a move never recognized internationally. Netanyahu said any peace deal with Palestinians must include Jerusalem
as Israel’s capital. That would be a non-starter for Palestinians in any
negotiations if it meant the entire city would be under Israeli
control.Reuters
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