Egypt warns against US moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
Egypt’s permanent representative at the Arab League Yasser El-Atawi warned against undertaking any unilateral actions that could undermine the course of peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, after recent reports that the US administration was considering moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
El-Atawi said at an emergency meeting of the Arab League Council in Cairo on Tuesday that the historical and legal status of Jerusalem for Arabs and Palestinians is a sensitive issue that should be dealt with wisely to prevent fuelling tension in the region.
El-Atawi added that Egypt would continue its efforts to work towards establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with the Arab peace initiative.
The Arab League Council issued a resolution on Tuesday stating that recognising Jerusalem as the Israeli capital or establishing any diplomatic mission in the city would be a “blatant assault” on Arab nations as well as Muslim and Christian Palestinians.
The council also called on the US and all nations to commit to international resolutions on Jerusalem, describing any move to recognise Jerusalem as a capital for Israel as a “dangerous violation” of UN Security Council resolutions.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump delayed a decision on whether the US would relocate its embassy to Jerusalem.
The White House said that Trump would miss a deadline to decide on shifting the embassy from Tel Aviv, after a frantic 48 hours of public warnings from allies and private phone calls between world leaders.
Israel has occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move that is considered illegal by the international community.
Israel claims the entire city as its undivided capital, while the Palestinians seek the eastern part of the city for the capital of their future state.
In March 2016, Trump promised in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to move the American embassy to the “eternal capital of the Jewish people,” Jerusalem.
Source: Ahram online
