The US will open its embassy in Jerusalem by the end of 2019, ahead of schedule, the vice-president, Mike Pence, has said. Arab-Israeli politicians were ejected from the Knesset at the start of Pence’s speech for heckling.

“In the weeks ahead, our administration will advance its plan to open the US embassy in Jerusalem – and that United States embassy will open before the end of next year,” he said in a speech to roaring applause in the Israeli Knesset.

Speaking during a two-day visit, Pence said Donald Trump had “righted a 70-year wrong” by recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

A live-stream of the address run by the US embassy was interrupted during the demonstration, in which legislators held signs saying: “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine”.

The move has been condemned by the Palestinians, their Arab allies, and much of the broader diplomatic community, who say the status of the city should be decided in future peace negotiations.

In a speech filled with biblical references, Pence, an evangelical Christian, said America stood with Israel “because your cause is our cause, your values are our values, your fight is our fight”.

There had been speculation about when the embassy move would happen. In December the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said it was unlikely that operations would be relocated before 2020.

Q&A What will US recognition of Jerusalem mean for the peace process? Show Hide The peace process has been at death’s door since the former secretary of state John Kerry’s peace mission ended in failure in 2014. But the international community – apart from the US – is united in saying recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is disastrous for any hopes of reviving meaningful talks. The status of Jerusalem is one of the pivotal issues that diplomats and peacemakers have said must be agreed between the two parties in negotiations. Palestinians will see Trump’s announcement as the end of their hopes and demands for East Jerusalem as a capital of a future independent state. While few want a return to violence, many will feel diplomatic efforts have got them no closer to a state of their own. The Israeli government will be thrilled. Ever since it captured (and later annexed) East Jerusalem in the 1967 six-day war, Israel has claimed the city as its “eternal and undivided” capital, and has longed for international recognition. Some 200,000 Israelis living in illegal settlements will also celebrate.

The chairman of the Joint Arab List alliance, Ayman Odeh, had before of the speech that his group would boycott it, saying Pence was a “dangerous man with a messianic vision that includes the destruction of the entire region”.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called the boycott a disgrace, telling the Knesset on Monday that Trump’s decision would go down as historic.

Following a private meeting between the two politicians earlier on Monday, Netanyahu said: “This is the first time that I stand here where both leaders can say those three words: ‘Israel’s capital Jerusalem’.”

Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, including the Old City that was captured by Israeli forces in 1967 and later annexed, as the capital of a future state. Israel regards all of the city as its “eternal and undivided capital”.

Trump’s declaration shocked the Palestinian leadership, which responded by rejecting the US as a peace broker, a position it had held for years. President Mahmoud Abbas rescinded an invitation for Pence to visit the West Bank and called Trump’s announcement a “slap in the face”.

While Pence spoke in Israel on Monday, Abbas was in Brussels where the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, assured him that the EU supported a solution in which two states share Jerusalem.

Abbas urged EU member nations to recognise Palestine’s statehood immediately.

In his speech, Pence called for the Palestinian leadership “to return to the table” and said the US would support a two-state solution, but only if both sides supported it.