President Trump said he would like to attempt to establish peace between Israelis and Palestinians before moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“I want to give that a shot before I even think about moving the embassy to Jerusalem,” Trump told former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) in an interview that aired Saturday on the Trinity Broadcasting Network’s “Huckabee.”
{mosads}“If we can make peace between the Palestinians and Israel, I think it’ll lead to ultimately peace in the Middle East, which has to happen,” he continued.
Trump renewed a waiver last August to keep the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv temporarily, despite promising on the 2016 campaign trail that he would move it to Jerusalem.
The location of the embassy has always been a point of contention between Israelis and Palestinians.
Israel sees Jerusalem as its capital. Palestinians, however, want East Jerusalem to be the capital of what they hope will be a future, independent state.
The U.S. does not see Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and former presidents have said the city’s final status should be decided in peace negotiations.