Trump ‘carefully’ mulling how embassy move would impact Mideast peace

US President Donald 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, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says, revealing Trump’s criteria for a decision that could reverberate throughout the volatile Middle East.

Since taking office, Trump has backed away from his campaign pledge to move the embassy in a gesture to Israel, instead saying he’s still studying the issue. But Tillerson links Trump’s deliberations directly to his aspirations for brokering Mideast peace.

“The president is being very careful to understand how such a decision would impact the peace process,” Tillerson says in an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He says 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.”

— AP