US in talks to move Israel embassy to Jerusalem

The Trump administration has begun deliberations over whether to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, according to a spokesperson

The front of the US embassy is seen in Tel Aviv, Israel
The front of the US embassy is seen in Tel Aviv, Israel

The White House has said it is in the early stages of talks to fulfil Donald Trump’s pledge to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said on Sunday.

One adviser to US President Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway, has said it is a top priority for the new administration, which took office just three days ago.

Washington’s embassy is in Tel Aviv, as are most foreign diplomatic posts. Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal capital, but Palestinians also lay claim to the city as part of a Palestinian state. Both sides cite religious, historical and political claims.

Any decision to break with the status quo is likely to prompt protests from US allies in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. Washington relies on those countries for help in fighting the Islamic State militant group, which the new US president has said is a priority.

The US Congress passed a law in 1995 describing Jerusalem as capital of Israel and saying it should not be divided, but successive Republican and Democratic presidents have used their foreign policy powers to maintain the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and to back negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the status of Jerusalem.

In early December, then-President Barack Obama renewed the presidential waiver until the beginning of June. It is unclear whether Trump would be able to legally override that waiver and go ahead with relocation of the embassy.

US diplomats say that despite the legislation, Washington’s foreign policy is in practice broadly aligned with that of the UN and other major powers, which do not view Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and do not recognise Israel’s annexation of Arab East Jerusalem after its capture in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel approved building permits on Sunday for hundreds of homes in three East Jerusalem settlements in expectation that Trump will retreat from the previous administration’s criticism of such projects.