Abbas tells Trump moving embassy to Jerusalem is ‘aggressive’, crosses ‘red line’

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas wants President-elect Trump to abandon his “aggressive” plan to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. 

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Friday referred to US President-elect Donald Trump’s stated intention to move the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as an “aggressive statement.”

“We call on you not to implement your statement because we consider it as an aggressive statement, when you say that you want to move the embassy to Jerusalem,” Abbas sad.

Abbas also said, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, that such a move was a “red line” that the PA would never accept.

The PA chairman also claimed that not only would the peace process between Israel and the PA be affected but world peace as well.

“We heard a lot of statements relating to moving the US embassy, which we hope are not correct and will not be implemented, but if implemented then the peace process in the Middle East, and even peace in the world, will be in a crisis we will not be able to come out from,” he argued.

Abbas’s remarks echo those of outgoing US Secretary of State John Kerry who warned of a regional “explosion” if the US embassy is moved to Jerusalem, and follow those of a senior Palestinian official last Monday who called for Palestinians to plan for a confrontation with Trump in this regard.

In contrast to the assertions of Abbas and Kerry, Trump’s nominee for US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that he looks forward to advancing “the cause of peace within the region…from the US embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.”

Marc Zell, Co-Chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, supports the move.

“Mr. Trump and Mr. Friedman can move the US Embassy to Jerusalem with zero effort and zero US taxpayer dollars,” said Zell.

“Here’s how: First, the US law on the books, passed under President Bill Clinton, states that America must move its Embassy to Jerusalem. Every 6 months since that law was passed, each President – most recently Barack Obama just a few days ago – signed a waiver to, in effect, override US law,” Zell continued.

“All Mr. Trump has to do, in less than six months, is nothing. The US law, which is in effect now, will not be overridden, and the US Embassy can be moved to Jerusalem the next day.”

“And it will cost zero US taxpayer dollars,” added Zell. “All they need to do is change the sign on the US Consulate in Jerusalem to say ‘US Embassy.’”

Senator Ted Cruz, who recently introduced a bill to obligate the president to recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish capital by moving the embassy there, released a statement saying,

“Unfortunately, the Obama administration’s vendetta against the Jewish state has been so vicious that to even utter this simple truth – let alone the reality, that Jerusalem is the appropriate venue for the American embassy in Israel – is shocking in some circles.”

“But it is finally time to cut through the double-speak and broken promises and do what Congress said we should do in 1995: formally move our embassy to the capital of our great ally Israel,” Cruz concluded.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News