Trump tells Abbas of plans to move embassy as world leaders warn of consequences
Dec. 5, 2017 7:42 P.M. (Updated: Dec. 5, 2017 7:42 P.M.)
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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — After days of speculation over whether the US would be moving its Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, American President Donald Trump called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday and confirmed his intentions to move the embassy.
Abbas’ spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh released a statement saying that Abbas "warned [Trump] of the dangerous repercussions of such step” for the peace-process between Israel and Palestine, and for general security and stability in the region and world.
Abbas reportedly reiterated the Palestinian leadership’s unwavering position that without what is no occupied East Jerusalem as its capital, there is not future of Palestinian state as stipulated in international resolutions.
Abu Rudeineh stressed that Abbas “will continue to contact world leaders in order to prevent this unacceptable.”
Israeli news daily Haaretz quoted Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian official, as saying that “the mother of all the [peace] deals dies here on the rocks in Jerusalem if he says tomorrow that he recognizes a united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
Meanwhile, international media outlets reported that Trump also phoned Jordanian King Abdullah II, who, according to Haaretz, told Trump over the phone that he pledged to “thwart any American initiative to renew the peace process and would encourage rage and resistance among Muslims and Christians alike,” if the embassy was moved.