Abbas warns Trump not to go ahead with ‘aggressive’ embassy relocation

PA head invites president-elect to visit, but says moving mission to Jerusalem would cause possibly irreparable crisis in peace process

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gestures after delivering a speech on the second day of the 7th Fatah Congress in the West Bank city of Ramallah on November 30, 2016. (AFP/Abbas Momani)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gestures after delivering a speech on the second day of the 7th Fatah Congress in the West Bank city of Ramallah on November 30, 2016. (AFP/Abbas Momani)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday not to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

Abbas invited Trump to visit the Palestinian territories, but also said: “We call on you not to implement your statement… because we consider it as an aggressive statement, when you say you want to move the embassy to Jerusalem.”

The PA president said moving the embassy would throw the peace process into a crisis it would not necessarily overcome, according to Israel Radio.

The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as their intended capital. An American decision to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would signal US acceptance of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The status of Jerusalem is one of the core issues that would need to be resolved in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on Palestinian statehood.

Israel annexed East Jerusalem and the Old City after capturing the areas in the 1967 war. The UN Security Council last month branded all such land occupied Palestinian territory — a designation furiously rejected by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ridiculed the notion that the Temple Mount and Western Wall could be defined in this way. The US abstained in the vote, allowing the resolution to pass, infuriating Israel, and drawing criticism from Trump.

Abbas said Friday that any action that affects the status of Jerusalem would cross a red line and that the Palestinians would not put up with it.

Earlier this week, in a meeting with members of Israel’s left-wing Meretz party, Abbas said he did not believe Trump would move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, despite Trump and his team having made statements to that effect during the campaign as well as after his election win.

Then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the 2016 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference at the Verizon Center, on Monday, March 21, 2016, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the 2016 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference at the Verizon Center, on Monday, March 21, 2016, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Abbas said on that occasion that the Palestinian leadership was currently showing patience on the matter, understanding that campaign promises were not necessarily a reflection of how Trump would actually govern.

He noted that moving the embassy would have “irreversible” consequences, and warned that if Trump did relocate it, the PA would “take steps” in response. He did not elaborate.

On Thursday, Jordan issued its first response to the incoming Trump administration’s intention to move the embassy.

The US embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 14, 2016. (Flash 90)
The US embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 14, 2016. (Flash 90)

A government spokesman in Amman warned that moving the embassy may have “catastrophic” repercussions. Such a move could affect relations between the US and regional allies, including Jordan, Information Minister Mohamed Momani told The Associated Press.

An embassy move would be a “red line” for Jordan, would “inflame the Islamic and Arab streets” and would serve as a “gift to extremists,” he said, adding that Jordan would use all possible political and diplomatic means to prevent such a decision.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat shows a map as he addresses journalists on January 20, 2016 in the West Bank city of Jericho. (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat shows a map as he addresses journalists on January 20, 2016 in the West Bank city of Jericho. (AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI)

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said last month that he will resign, the peace process will be over for ever, the PLO will revoke its recognition of Israel and the US will be forced by Arab public opinion to close all its embassies in the Arab world if the Trump administration moves the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

In a statement issued by the Trump transition team days earlier announcing David Friedman as Trump’s choice for ambassador to Israel, Friedman said he aimed to “strengthen the bond between our two countries and advance the cause of peace within the region,” and that he looked “forward to doing this from the US embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.”

Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on December 12 that moving the embassy “is very big priority for this president-elect, Donald Trump.” Conway told radio host Hugh Hewitt in a lengthy interview: “He made it very clear during the campaign, and as president-elect, I’ve heard him repeat it several times privately, if not publicly.”

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