US President Donald Trump may formally recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital early next week and direct his staff to prepare for moving the embassy to Jerusalem, Channel 2 News reported Wednesday night.
The report, to which there was no immediate confirmation, followed a speech US Vice President Mike Pence gave a day earlier in which he said that Trump was “actively considering” the step.
“While for the past 20 years, Congress and successive administrations have expressed a willingness to move our embassy, as we speak, President Donald Trump is actively considering when and how to move the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” Pence said at an event celebrating the 70th anniversary of the UN vote on the Partition Plan.
Trump pledged repeatedly during his campaign to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. After Trump signed the waiver in June, various administration officials said moving the embassy was a matter of “when, not if.”
The Palestinians, as well as some Arab leaders and top US officials, have warned that such a move would trigger an uproar and violent unrest in the territories and in Arab capitals that could ruin current US efforts to push the diplomatic process forward.
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