President Trump Declares Jerusalem As Capital of Israel
Donald Trump has declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in a provocative move one Palestinian official has blasted as the “kiss of death” for peace in the Middle East.
In a speech at the White House this morning, Mr Trump officially recognised the holy city as the capital of Israel and declared his intention to move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.
“Today we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital,” he said.
“This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do.”
Mr Trump said moving the embassy was “long overdue”, given it had been US policy since 1995. Previous presidents had “failed to deliver”.
“I am delivering. I’ve judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” Mr Trump said.
“After more than two decades of waivers, we are no closer to a lasting peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
“It would be folly to assume that repeating the exact same formula would now produce a different or better result.”
The President said Israel had the right to determine its own capital “like every other sovereign nation”.
“Acknowledging this as a fact is a necessary condition for achieving peace,” he said.
Mr Trump said Jerusalem was the “seat of the modern Israeli government” and was home to the parliament, supreme court and prime minister.
