|
|
#1
06-02-2017, 11:38 AM
|
|||
|
|||
Trump will **t move embassy to al-Quds
Palestinian leadership relieved
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump postponed moving the US embassy in Israel to al-Quds on Thursday, avoiding a provocative step as he tries to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who welcomed Trump to the city last week, expressed disappointment at the delay but made it clear he still values Trump’s support. And the Palestinian leadership were relieved by a decision that they said "gives peace a chance." On the campaign trail Trump repeatedly pledged that he would shift the embassy from Tel Aviv to the city claimed as capital by both Israel and its Palestinian neighbors and he appointed a US ambassador who shares this goal. But since coming to ****** in January, Trump has met with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Washington and in a visit to the region last week and has committed himself to seeking a long-elusive final peace deal between them. Congress passed a law in 1995 making it US policy to move the embassy to Jerusalem, symbolically endorsing Israel’s claim on the city as its capital. But the law contained a clause that has allowed each president since to issue and renew a six-month waiver on carrying out the move. On Thursday, the waiver came up for renewal for the first time on Trump’s watch, and he followed the example of Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama before him in instructing his secretary of state to hold off on the move. "** one should consider this step to be in any way a retreat from the president’s strong support for Israel and for the United States-Israel alliance," the White House said, in a written statement. "President Trump made this decision to maximise the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, fulfilling his solemn obligation to defend America’s national security interests," it explained. "But, as he has repeatedly stated his intention to move the embassy, the question is **t if that move happens, but only when." Netanyahu’s ****** expressed disappointment, but **t anger. "Maintaining embassies outside the capital drives peace further away by helping keep alive the Palestinian fantasy that the Jewish people and the Jewish state have ** connection to Jerusalem," a statement said. "Though Israel is disappointed that the embassy will **t move at this time, we appreciate today’s expression of President Trump’s friendship to Israel and his commitment to moving the embassy in the future." Hussam Zomlot, Palestinian ambassador to the United States, also issued a statement. "This is in line with the long-held US policy and the international consensus and it gives peace a chance," he said. أكثر... 
|
|
|
العرض الشجري