Trump renews waiver to keep U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv — for now

Oren Dorell | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Why Trump isn't moving the US embassy in Israel The Trump administration said it feared moving the embassy to Jerusalem could hurt peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Video provided by Newsy

President Trump renewed a waiver Thursday that keeps the U.S. Embassy to Israel in Tel Aviv, rather than moving it to Jerusalem as he had promised during the presidential campaign.

The White House said in a statement that while Trump signed the waiver and delayed moving the embassy, "no one should consider this step to be in any way a retreat from the president's strong support for Israel and for the United States-Israel alliance."

"President Trump made this decision to maximize the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians," the White House said. "But, as he has repeatedly stated his intention to move the embassy, the question is not if that move happens, but only when."

Moving the embassy to Jerusalem, Israel's capital, before a peace agreement is reached between Israel and the Palestinians would be highly controversial because the status of Jerusalem is disputed. Israel claims rights to Jerusalem dating back to biblical times, but Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state.

As a result, the United States and other countries maintain embassies in Tel Aviv, pending peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Congress passed a law in 1995 calling for the re-location of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, but presidents can avoid doing that by signing a waiver twice a year to keep the embassy in Tel Aviv.

Trump still supports moving the embassy, but wrote in a memorandum to Congress that "it is necessary, in order to protect the national security interests of the United States, to suspend for a period of 6 months the limitations set forth" in the 1995 law.

Israeli Prime Mininster Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement Thursday saying Trump's decision to postpone moving the U.S. Embassy diminishes chances for peace with the Palestinians.

“Maintaining embassies outside the capital drives peace further away by helping keep alive the Palestinian fantasy that the Jewish people and the Jewish state have no connection to Jerusalem," Netanyahu's office said, according to The Times of Israel.

Hussam Zomlot, the Palestinian envoy in Washington, said Trump's move “gives peace a chance.”

“We are ready to start the consultation process with the U.S. administration,” he said after Trump’s announcement.

Trump and his advisers "seem not to want to deviate from established U.S. Israel policy,” said Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, an advocacy group in Washington. He said their goal appears to allow for negotiations down the road.

Before Trump's visit to the Middle East last week, Netanyahu's government froze settlement construction on land Palestinians want for a state. And during the trip, Trump urged Netanyahu to negotiate with the Palestinians, as have past presidents, because "they are ready to reach for peace."

Trump also declined to reaffirm support for relocating the embassy. The move would surely outrage Arab allies of the U.S., such as Saudi Arabia, which gave him a royal welcome and signed a massive arms purchase prior to Trump's visit to Israel.

David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, also favors moving the embassy to Jerusalem. Friedman said in a statement last year that he looked forward to serving in the post "from the U.S. Embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.”