Sitting beside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, President Trump told reporters Monday he might go to Israel to attend the official opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish state in May.
Trump said the recognition of Jerusalem took one of the biggest issues preventing Israeli-Palestinian peace “off the table,” but the Palestinians have declared they regard the embassy move as a further provocation that makes coming to the negotiating table even less likely. When the State Department announced last month it will open a facility in Jerusalem timed for the May 14 anniversary, Palestinian Liberation Organization Secretary-General Saeb Erekat called the move a “flagrant violation of international law and agreements” signed between the Palestinians and Israel that will “destroy” the “two-state solution.”
