For now, it looks like President Trump will not be fulfilling his campaign promise to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing a White House official. While this means Trump won't be making good on his word, Bloomberg noted that he will be "avoiding a provocation that could drive Palestinians away from peace talks."
In March 2016, Trump announced during a speech at the American Israeli Political Action Committee conference that he'd relocate the embassy to Jerusalem. While Trump declared the city the "eternal capital of the Jewish people," both Jews and Palestinians claim it to be theirs. Moving the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem would have effectively signaled that Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people, likely throwing a wrench in Trump's other promise: to try to facilitate a peace deal between Israel and Palestine.
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Trump's plans to be the great maker of peace between Israel and Palestine hit another hiccup earlier this week when an American diplomat angered the Israeli prime minister by describing one of Judaism's holiest sites, the Western Wall, as being located in the West Bank, which is partially controlled by the Palestinian government. Trump is slated to visit the Western Wall in his first trip abroad next week.
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