Moving US embassy to Jerusalem will ‘destroy peace process’, Palestinians warn

The Trump administration says that moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a ‘top priority,’ while the Palestinians are threatening that such a move would have repercussions.  

If President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his pledge to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, it will be the final death blow to the failed peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority stated on Friday.

Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat warned that the implementation of Trump’s pledge would destroy any prospects for peace with Israel, Israel Radio reported over the weekend.

Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, issued the veiled threat a day after Trump announced his decision to nominate David Friedman as his ambassador to Israel. Friedman is a staunch supporter of moving of the US embassy to Jerusalem.

Speaking to foreign journalists, Erekat said Jerusalem was a final-status issue to be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians.

Successive US administrations have avoided formally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. If Trump makes good on his campaign promise, it would change decades of US policy, possibly enraging the Muslims and drawing international condemnation.

“No one should take any decisions which may preempt or prejudge (negotiations) because this will be the destruction of the peace process as a whole,” Erekat said.

Meanwhile, sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded Friedman’s appointment on Friday. “The prime minister knows that the president-elect has complete trust, and that he expects to work with Friedman closely and tightly,” the aides said.

By: World Israel News Staff