TEL AVIV – President Donald Trump on Tuesday told Arab leaders in the region, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II that he intends to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The reports were confirmed, respectively, by the Royal Hashemite court and by the PA’s official news agency Wafa.
“Trump informed the president on his intention to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” Wafa reported.
The report said Abbas told Trump that “there is no Palestinian state without east Jerusalem as its capital.”
The Jordanian king warned Trump of the “dangerous repercussions” that moving the embassy would have on the region.
Trump missed Monday’s deadline to sign the biannual presidential waiver delaying the embassy relocation.
The White House said Trump is also scheduled to call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as other world leaders.
“There are likely other foreign leader calls that will take place today and we will keep you posted as those are confirmed,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
Trump is expected to make the announcement on Wednesday.
The Palestinian leadership as well as other Arab and Muslim leaders have warned the U.S. that any change to the status on Jerusalem would be met with repercussions against Israel, both diplomatic and violent in nature.
Earlier on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Jerusalem is a “red line” for Muslims and could lead to his country cutting ties with Israel.
Over the weekend, Abbas’ spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said such a move “would lead to the destruction of the peace process and would bring the region into an uncontrollable situation.”
Another adviser Nabil Shaath said on Tuesday that a formal recognition by Trump of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “totally destroys any chance that he will play a role as an honest broker.”
Prince Khalid bin Salman, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, warned in a statement to CNN that “any announcement prior to a final settlement would have a detrimental impact on the peace process and would heighten tensions in the region.”
Gaza-based terror group Hamas has warned that any recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital will be deemed a “flagrant aggression” against the city and “a barefaced violation of international law” that would be met with an “escalation of violence” and a “revival of the intifada.”
During the presidential election campaign, Trump promised to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem but in June he signed the waiver deferring the transfer.
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