President Trump has not made a final decision about relocating the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, according to the State Department.
“We are at the early stages of the decision-making process on this, and no decision has yet been taken,” a State Department official told the Washington Examiner.
That contradicts an Israeli media report that Trump had notified Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he had decided to leave the embassy in Tel Aviv. Such a decision would be in line with past U.S. presidents, who have avoided recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel due to Palestinian claims to the eastern part of the city. It would, however, mark a reversal of Trump’s campaign pledge to make the move.
“Israel’s position is that all embassies, particularly the US embassy, should be in Israel’s capital — Jerusalem,” Netanyahu’s office told the Jerusalem Post in a statement denying that Trump had decided against them.
The State Department official gave little away. “The president said he is giving serious thought to the matter, we are looking at it with great care, and we’ll see what happens,” the official said.
