Washington(December 6, 2017): US President Donald Trump will recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in his speech, senior administration officials have said.
The recognition of Jerusalem, widely expected to anger the Arab world and cast a shadow over US-led peace efforts, will also be accompanied by Trump committing to support a two-state solution should both Israel and the Palestinians back it, the officials said, in a likely bid by the administration to balance the announcement seen as heavily favoring Israel.The suggestion came ahead of a key speech on the issue, as Trump called the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and other Arab leaders, to tell them that he plans to move the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
The disclosure in a phone call between Trump and Abbas came after the US president declined to sign a waiver blocking the move as every predecessor of his has done since 1995 by a deadline of midnight on Monday.Following the call with Trump, Abbas appealed to the pope and Russian, French and Jordanian leaders to intervene to block Trump’s proposed move, according to his spokesman.
In a series of phone calls, Trump later spoke with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to deliver the same message.
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