TEL AVIV – Arab nations will push for recognition of “Palestine” with eastern Jerusalem as its capital following President Donald Trump’s recognition of the city as Israel’s capital last month.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Saturday met with Arab foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, the UAE and the Palestinian Authority as well as Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit to discuss the status of Jerusalem.
“There is a political decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and we will strive to reach an international political decision to recognize a Palestinian state … with (eastern) Jerusalem as its capital,” Safadi said.
He added that an additional meeting would take place at the end of the month with the top diplomats of other Arab nations.
Trump’s December recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his promise to move the U.S. embassy there sparked violence across the Muslim world.
Terror group Hamas said Trump‘s move was a “declaration of war” and called for an Intifada. Rockets were launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Palestinian Authorty President Mahmoud Abbas warned that Trump’s announcement “will lead to wars without end.”
“By these deplorable decisions, the United States deliberately undermines all peace efforts,” he said, adding that the move “is tantamount to the United States abdicating its role as a peace mediator.”
128 states rejected Trump’s announcement in a non-binding UN General Assembly resolution.
Israel captured eastern Jerusalem – which includes Judaism’s holiest sites, the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in the Old City – and the West Bank in the 1967 defensive war, seizing it from Jordanian occupation and reuniting the city.
When making his announcement, Trump added the caveat that Jerusalem’s status would be determined in negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II told the Arab ministers prior to Safadi’s announcement that “the question of Jerusalem must be resolved within the framework of a just and lasting peace agreement between Palestinians and Israelis.”
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