Jerusalem: World condemns Trump’s statement
US allies across the globe are amongst the dozens of countries to condemn President Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Eight countries, including the UK, France, and Egypt have requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the decision.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said:
“We disagree with the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem and recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital before a final status agreement. We believe it is unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region. The British Embassy to Israel is based in Tel Aviv and we have no plans to move it.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn went further and described the decision as a “reckless threat to peace” and called on the British government to go further and “condemn this dangerous act and work for a just and viable settlement of the conflict”.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump’s change in policy was “a regrettable decision that France does not approve of and goes against international law and all the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council”.
The German government said it “does not support this position because the status of Jerusalem can only be negotiated within the framework of a two-state solution”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump for his “historic” decision, but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Trump’s decision “will not change the reality of Jerusalem…being a Christian, Arab, and Palestinian city, and capital of the State of Palestine”, and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas called for a new “intifada” (uprising).
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have closed their businesses in protest and thousands have already taken to the streets to demonstrate. Clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli military have already beenr reported in Bethlehem and elsewhere.