Reversing decades of US policy, Trump in early December recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and set in motion the process of moving the embassy from Tel Aviv, imperilling Middle East peace efforts and upsetting the Arab world and Western allies alike. Jerusalem is home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed in a move not recognised internationally, as the capital of their future state. That’s no.“Trump – whose decision on the embassy move fulfilled a campaign pledge - promised, however, that it would be “a beautiful embassy but not one that costs $1.2 billion,” referring to what he says was the cost of the new US embassy in London. He acknowledged that the embassy move in Britain was agreed under former President George W Bush but said it was built under Obama and “came out tremendously over budget.”

Source: bd News24 January 17, 2018 21:00 UTC