Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Pressure on White House to Recognize Jerusalem as Capital of Israel | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page
Media ID: 55372687
Caption:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) speaks to U.S. president Donald Trump during their meeting in New York, September 25, 2016. Handout via REUTERS/File Photo


Tal Aviv – Once Washington announced that US President Donald Trump intends to visit Israel end of May, right-wing officials started making up news and statements to put pressure on the US administration and Trump to implement the electoral promises for Jews, especially the promise to recognize Jerusalem as capital of Israel and to transfer the US embassy to Tel Aviv.

A high-ranking US official affirmed that the president is willing to visit Israel and that the White House is considering the trip to the Jewish state the soonest as part of a tour to other countries.

The official revealed that there is coordination between the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the White House to arrange the visit to Israeli as well as territories of the Palestinian authority next month.

End of May, Trump will carry out his first abroad visit as a president in which he will arrive to Brussels to participate in the NATO summit – the White House is considering the possibility of making use of Trump’s visit to Europe to arrange visits to Middle East countries including Israel.

Trump’s visit to Israel coincides with two major dates. On May 21, Israel witnesses Jerusalem Day festivals in celebration of 50 years of occupying the city in 1967. The visit is also one day before the 1st of June when Obama’s resolution to freeze the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem would become inactive.

Until then, Trump will have to decide whether to extend the resolution period or abstain from that.

The right-wing in Israel aims at embarrassing Trump via demanding that he acknowledges Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, pushing him to fulfill his promise in transferring the embassy to Tal Aviv.