PM says moving US embassy will advance peace process

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responds to earlier remarks by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who revealed that President Trump is assessing whether moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would help or hurt prospects for clinching an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

“Not only will it not harm peace process, but the opposite,” the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement. “It will advance it by correcting a historic injustice and will shatter the Palestinian fantasy that Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel.”

In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired on Sunday, Tillerson said Trump is “being very careful to understand how such a decision would impact the peace process.” He added that Trump’s decision would be informed by feedback from all sides, including “whether Israel views it as helpful to a peace initiative or perhaps a distraction.”