A senior adviser to Donald Trump has reiterated that the president-elect is determined to overturn years of government policy and move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem after his inauguration in January.

The comments were made by Kellyanne Conway in a radio interview on Monday, and reiterated Trump’s campaign commitment to move the embassy in what would be a highly contentious move.

Describing it as a “very big priority”, Conway said: “He made it very clear during the campaign.” She added that she has heard him repeat the promise during private meetings since the election.

Conway’s commentswere made during an interview with on Monday with rightwing radio host Hugh Hewitt – apparently in line with Trump’s chaotic way of communicating key policies.

“He made it very clear during the campaign,” said Conway, “and as president-elect I’ve heard him repeat it several times privately, if not publicly.

“It is something that our friend in Israel, a great friend in the Middle East, would appreciate and something that a lot of Jewish Americans have expressed their preference for,” Conway said. “It is a great move. It is an easy move to do based on how much he talked about that in the debates and in the sound bites.”

Conway linked the issue to the priorities of US evangelical Christians: “People think it’s just marriage, abortion or religious liberties, and of course it’s about all that, but it’s also about a strong Middle East and about protecting Israel,” she said.

“Evangelical Christians always have Israel at the top of their list when you ask what’s most important to them.”

The policy, if enacted, would be welcomed in Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightwing government which has long sought to have the embassy moved to what they claim as the country’s “undivided” capital.

Official US state department policy, however, has long been that the status of Jerusalem will only be determined in final status talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Although the US Congress passed a law ordering the move to Jerusalem in 1995, every president since then has exercised a six-month waiver to prevent it taking place usually citing “national security concerns” as a reason, most recently by Barack Obama earlier this month.

The remarks by Conway on Jerusalem are only the latest in a series of highly controversial comments by Trump which threaten to over turn years of US government foreign policy on issues from China and Nato to Russia and the Middle East.