Trump postpones decision on Jerusalem as capital of Israel

WASHINGTON, (Patria) - US President Donald Trump has postponed the planned announcement of the decision to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem until Monday, the White House announced at a time when US and world officials are expressing concern about possible violence and retaliation that such an act would provoke.

- The announcement of the decision can be expected in the coming days - White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley said on Sunday evening.

Trump is expected to decide whether to sign a waiver to postpone the embassy's relocation from Tel Aviv for another six months, as every president has done since 1995 when Congress passed a law regulating the issue.

The possibility that the US president would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has provoked strong reactions from US and foreign officials who fear that such an act would provoke violence.

Such a decision, which US officials say is not yet finalized, would depart from decades of US policy of not taking a stance on the fate of Jerusalem because it is one of the central issues that Israelis and Palestinians must negotiate and decide.

If Trump were to take such a step, it could provoke violence from Palestinians and Muslims around the world, partly due to the sensitivity of the holy site, which Jews call the Temple Mount and Muslims call the Haram al-Sharif, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, is located. The ancient Jewish Temple, the holiest site in Judaism, was located there.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where that site is located, during the 1967 war. Despite this, Islamic sites in the area are managed by a Muslim religious body.

A senior US official told Reuters last week that it was likely Trump would announce on Wednesday that the US considers Jerusalem its capital, although his son-in-law Jared Kushner said on Sunday that a final decision had not yet been made.

The Middle East department at the State Department and numerous US ambassadors in that part of the world oppose Trump's intention, believing that it will worsen the security situation.

US intelligence assessments suggest that the move could provoke retaliation against Israel and US interests in the region.

The main elements of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute are borders, the future of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the fate of Palestinian refugees, and the status of Jerusalem.

US allies are unhappy with the possibility of the US unilaterally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

- Any US decision on the status of Jerusalem before a final agreement would have a devastating effect on the peace process and would raise tensions in the region - said Prince Khalid bin Salman, Saudi ambassador to the US, in a statement.

French President Emmanuel Macron "expressed concern about the possibility of the US unilaterally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel" during talks with Trump on Monday, Macron's office announced after the talks.

According to the Jordanian news agency Petra, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday not to do so. Safadi said that such a move would "provoke anger throughout the Arab and Muslim world, ignite tensions, and jeopardize peace efforts," Petra reported.

The chief representative of the PLO in Washington, Husam Zomlot, said that such a US step would represent a "kiss of death" for the two-state solution.

- If this step is taken, it will have catastrophic consequences - Zomlot told Reuters.

Daniel Benjamin, a former US counter-terrorism official now at Dartmouth University, says it is "playing with fire."