White House: Trump Won’t Move Embassy To Jerusalem For Now
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Image by Getty Images
By Aiden Pink May 17, 2017
President Trump will not immediately move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a senior White House official told Bloomberg News on Wednesday.
Trump promised during the campaign that he would move the embassy to Jerusalem, which he called “the eternal capital of the Jewish people.” But given the reportedly positive meetings that Trump has had in the past few months with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the White House felt that it was not the right time to alter the status quo.
“We don’t think it would be wise to do it at this time,” the official told Bloomberg. “We’ve been very clear what our position is and what we would like to see done, but we’re not looking to provoke anyone when everyone’s playing really nice.”
The move is sure to disappoint Netanyahu, who has repeatedly beseeched Trump administration officials to move the embassy. Tensions between the two allies have risen in the last week due to several disagreements over the itinerary for Trump’s trip to Israel on May 22-23.
Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink.
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