January 30, 2017
Conceding that the decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem is “not easy,” Trump stressed that “there’s certainly a chance” he will do so, but there are ‘two sides to it’.
US President Donald Trump said that it’s certainly possible that he will follow through on his plan to move the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in an interview over the weekend with CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network).
“There’s certainly a chance of it, absolutely,” Trump said when asked about the move. “I’ve always liked the concept of doing it, I’ll tell you that.”
He also acknowledged that Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama did not answer the call in the Jerusalem Embassy Act, passed by Congress in 1995, to have the US embassy in Tel Aviv moved to Jerusalem. The bill allows the president to sign a waiver every six months for “national security interests,” which indefinitely postpones the move.
“It’s a very big decision because every president for the last number of presidents, large number, they’ve come in and they were going to do it and and then all of a sudden they decide they don’t want to get involved,” he said.
At the same time, Trump said in the interview that the decision was “not easy” and “has two sides to it.”
Trump committed to “studying it very long and hard” before ultimately reaching a decision.
“I hate to do that because that’s not usually me,” Trump said with regards to studying the issue. “Usually, I do what’s right.”
Refusing to give a specific timetable of when he will ultimately announce his decision, Trump said he will “have a decision in the not-too-distant future.”
The last six-month waiver postponing the moving of the US embassy to Jerusalem was signed by Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, in early December, which gives Trump until about the end of May to decide whether to sign the six-month waiver or to allow the US embassy to be moved to Jerusalem.
By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News
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