Trump To Move U.S. Embassy To Jerusalem In 2019

PA president Mahmoud Abbas appeals to Europe to recognise a Palestinian state

- Margaret Talev & Jonathan Ferziger

President Donald Trump will act on his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital by transferring the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv in 2019, Vice President Mike Pence told the Israeli parliament. “In the weeks ahead our administration will advance its plan to open the United States embassy in Jerusalem, and that United States embassy will open before the end of next year,” Pence said in a speech Jan. 22 at the Israeli Knesset, eliciting gasps of approval from the audience. Trump had directed the State Department to “immediately begin preparations” for the move, Pence said.

At virtually the same moment as Pence was tightening Trump’s embrace of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was appealing to Europe to recognise a Palestinian state and emerge as an alternative diplomatic sponsor.

Accepting an independent Palestine would “open the doors to peace” and give his people hope, Abbas told E.U. foreign ministers gathering in Brussels. Palestinian officials refused to meet with Pence over Trump’s recognition last month of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying it disqualified the U.S. as a mediator. Palestinians hope to make the eastern part of the city their own capital.