President Donald Trump has reportedly notified Middle Eastern leaders that he plans to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel—reversing decades of United States policy and potentially putting peace talks between Israel and Palestine at risk.
Trump called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to notify the leaders of his plans to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thus fulfilling one of his campaign promises. Trump is expected to make an official announcement on Wednesday.
In a statement Tuesday, King Abdullah warned that the move “will have serious implications for security and stability in the Middle East, and will undermine the efforts of the American administration to resume the peace process.” Concerns that the move could worsen conflicts in the Middle East were echoed by many world leaders; the international community only recognizes Israeli control over West Jerusalem, and Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, as the capital of the State of Palestine.
