RNA - “After decades of talking about it, the President is giving serious consideration to moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” Pence told the 2017 AIPAC policy conference in Washington, DC, on Sunday.
Trump's rise has emboldened Israeli extremists to implement their illegal policies and further their occupational agenda by transferring the embassy, a move that Palestinian officials and prominent American politicians have warned against.
During the campaign run, Trump promised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s undivided capital.
In early December, then US President Barack Obama renewed a presidential waiver ordering the US embassy in Israel to remain in Tel Aviv, despite facing pressure by Congress and Israel.
In his AIPAC speech on Sunday, Pence reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to the Tel Aviv regime, saying that the alliance would only become stronger under Trump.
“Under President Donald Trump, the world will know this: America stands with Israel! President Trump stands with Israel because her cause is our cause. Her values are our values. And her fight is our fight,” Pence said.
“And I say with confidence: President Trump and I stand without apology for Israel and we always will!” he added.
The former Indiana governor also hailed the appointment of David Friedman as the new US ambassador to Israel, saying that it was his “high honor” to administer the oath of office to the hardliner Zionist.
Doubling down on Trump’s commitment to finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Pence said the president would never risk Israel’s safety.
Trump would also do his best to defeat the Daesh (ISIL) terror group “so it can no longer threaten our people, our allies or our most cherished ally, Israel,” the vice president said.
Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state in the territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem al-Quds and the Gaza Strip, with East al-Quds as the capital.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has warned the US against the relocation of the embassy, saying doing so would fuel extremism in the region and kill all chances for a solution to the conflict.
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