WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Wednesday said it had stymied a legal challenge to its controversial decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem – a city claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians as their capital.

National Security Adviser John Bolton blasted the case, saying it was a political stunt by “the so-called state of Palestine,” a provocative remark likely to be seen as a slap at Palestinian hopes of eventually establishing their own state.

After the Trump administration moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in May, the Palestinian Authority filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a United Nations tribunal.

To block the suit, Bolton announced Wednesday the U.S. would withdraw from an optional provision of the Vienna Convention on dispute resolution. He said it was part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to shield U.S. sovereignty from the reach of the international court.

“We will commence a review of all international agreements that may still expose the United States to purported binding jurisdiction dispute resolution in the International Court of Justice,” Bolton told reporters during a White House briefing. “The United States will not sit idly by as baseless politicized claims are brought against us.”

Bolton also defended using the phrase “so-called” to refer to the Palestinian governing authority, rejecting suggestions that such language might undermine America’s long-standing policy goal of a two-state solution to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict. He said his description was accurate.

“It is not a state now,” Bolton said. “It does not meet the customary international law test of statehood. It doesn’t control defined boundaries.”

He noted that the U.S., during both Democratic and Republican administrations, has refused to officially recognize Palestinian-held territory as its own nation.

President Donald Trump said last week that his administration will offer a Mideast peace plan in the next two to four months. During meetings with other world leaders at the United Nations, Trump reaffirmed U.S. support for recognizing Palestine as a state as part of a peace process.

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