U.S. President Donald Trump is seriously considering moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday.
"The president of the United States, as we speak, is giving serious consideration into moving the American embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem," said Pence here at an Israel Independence Day event.
He also noted that Trump was "personally committed to resolving the Israeli and Palestinian conflict."
However, it remains unclear how such a controversial move sure to anger the Arab world would contribute to the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While it is not the first time a member of the Trump administration has mentioned the possibility of moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, the latest revelation came on the eve of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's visit to the White House on Wednesday.
So far, the Palestinian side has made no comments on the remarks.
Despite the passage of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 by the U.S. Congress, which required the relocation of U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, former U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, consistently renewed a presidential waiver to delay the relocation on national security interests.
The status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So far, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and not a single foreign country bases their embassies in the city.
