US officials in Israel to examine proposed embassy move

By Said Ammoury

JERUSALEM

A U.S. congressional delegation will visit Israel on Saturday to study proposals for transferring the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, according to Israeli radio.

Knesset member Yehuda Glick said on Facebook that, during their one-day visit, delegation members would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials “to discuss the practical and political implications of the embassy’s transfer to Jerusalem”.

Neither source provided additional details.

During his electoral campaign, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to relocate his country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in a move that provoked widespread anger in most Arab and regional capitals.

Since Trump’s electoral victory last November, Israeli officials have repeatedly demanded that he make good on the promise.

However, in an interview with an Israeli newspaper last month, Trump said: “I'm thinking about the subject; we’ll see what will happen. It's not an easy decision.”

Jerusalem remains at the core of the perennial Israel-Palestine conflict, as the Palestinians want Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.

By Said Ammoury

JERUSALEM

A U.S. congressional delegation will visit Israel on Saturday to study proposals for transferring the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, according to Israeli radio.

Neither source provided additional details.

Since Trump’s electoral victory last November, Israeli officials have repeatedly demanded that he make good on the promise.

However, in an interview with an Israeli newspaper last month, Trump said: “I'm thinking about the subject; we’ll see what will happen. It's not an easy decision.”

Jerusalem remains at the core of the perennial Israel-Palestine conflict, as the Palestinians want Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.