The list of campaign promise reversals continues to grow as The FT reports President Donald Trump has decided not to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in a major reversal of one of his foreign policy campaign pledges.
During the presidential campaign Mr Trump repeatedly vowed to move the US embassy to Jerusalem despite concerns that it would exacerbate tensions between Israel and the Arab world.
Washington's embassy is in Tel Aviv, as are most foreign diplomatic posts. Israel calls Jerusalem its eternal capital, but Palestinians also lay claim to the city as part of an eventual Palestinian state. Both sides cite biblical, historical and political claims. The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1995 describing Jerusalem as capital of Israel and saying it should not be divided, but successive Republican and Democratic presidents have used their foreign policy powers to maintain the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and to back negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the status of Jerusalem.
As we noted previously, any decision to break with the status quo is likely to prompt protests from U.S. allies in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama all signed repeated six-month waivers postponing the move for national security reasons.
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