US to transfer embassy to Jerusalem, Trump tells Abbas

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday told Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas that he planned to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Palestine's official WAFA news agency reported.

WAFA quoted Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, as saying that Abbas had received a phone call from Trump to inform him of Washington’s intention to relocate the embassy.

Abbas warned Trump against what he described as “the serious consequence of such a move on the Middle East peace process and on regional and global peace and security”.

“The [Palestinian] president reiterated his demand for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital in line with international resolutions and the [2002] Arab Peace Initiative,” Abu Rudeineh was quoted as saying.

Earlier Tuesday, Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee, told Anadolu Agency that Abbas had discussed the planned embassy relocation with Trump.

He did not, however, provide any additional details.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also discussed the planned relocation with Abbas in a telephone call.

Putin called for the immediate resumption of direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations on all controversial issues, including the status of Jerusalem.

The two leaders also discussed the significance of an agreement, signed in Cairo in October 2017 between the Fatah and Hamas movements, aimed at strengthening Palestinian unity.

Undermine peace

Later Tuesday, Trump also had a phone conversation with Jordanian King Abdullah II, during which the U.S. president conveyed his intention to move the embassy to Jerusalem, according to a statement issued by the Jordanian Royal Court.

King Abdullah warned Trump of the move’s “dangerous repercussions on the region’s security and stability”, the statement said. He described Jerusalem as “the key to regional and global peace”.

The king also warned Trump that the move would likely enflame both Muslim and Christian sentiment and “weaken the U.S. administration’s efforts to achieve peace in the region”.

Following a phone conversation with King Abdullah, Trump discussed the Jerusalem issue with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in another phone call, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

Sisi emphasized Egypt’s stance on preserving the legal status of Jerusalem in line with international agreement and UN decisions.

Sisi warned Trump against measures that would undermine the chances of peace and complicate matters in the Middle East.

Last week, U.S. media reported that Trump was mulling the imminent relocation of the embassy, as well as the formal recognition of the city as Israel’s capital.

Jerusalem remains at the core of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- currently occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

During his election campaign last year, Trump repeatedly promised to relocate the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.