Trump Tells Israeli Paper He’s Moving Embassy to Jerusalem

By Nathan Guttman January 19, 2017

Donald Trump is speaking again to his favorite Israeli news outlet — and he insisted the U.S. embassy is moving to Jerusalem.

The president-elect took time this week for a (somewhat brief) interview with Israel Hayom, the pro-Netanyahu daily owned by Las Vegas casino magnate and Trump mega donor Sheldon Adelson.

It was another friendly exchange between the publication’s foreign news editor Boaz Bismuth and the incoming president, one of many similar encounters throughout the campaign and after the elections. Trump, who is, in general, inaccessible for foreign press and for Israeli media, has given at least five interviews to Bismuth.

In the interview, published Thursday, Trump made clear he intends to live up to his promise to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. “Of course I remember what I told you about Jerusalem. Of course I didn’t forget. And you know I’m not a person who breaks promises,” Trump said.

Israel Hayom ran the interview on its cover, alongside a photo of Bismuth and the president-elect smiling to the camera. Adelson, according to news reports, also attended the event.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected]

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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