USA to open Jerusalem embassy in 2019

“The truth is, the Palestinians walked away from negotiations for peace with Israel since 2014”.

A scuffle broke out and lawmakers with Israel’s Arab coalition were forcibly removed by security officers on Monday after raising placards in protest during U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s speech in the Knesset, the Israeli legislature.

“I was standing in front of Americans in uniform, Americans who every hour of the day are taking off and flying sorties in the fight against ISIS, and they were facing a question of whether they were going to be paid, whether their families were going to get the benefits they earned”, said Pence. He called on all Palestinian factions to unite and agree on “resistance in all forms”.

“There isn’t a single European country or other country we’ve spoken to since the December 6 announcement that in any way, shape or form believes a US-led process could be replaced”, they added.

A visit by Vice President Mike Pence to Jerusalem’s Western Wall has provoked outrage among female members of the foreign press corps after they were forced to stand behind their male counterparts.

The US move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital broke with decades of worldwide consensus that the city’s status should be settled as part of a two-state peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. In May, President Trump became the first sitting US president to visit the site in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Israeli forces were heavily present around Jerusalem while main roads leading to the Old City were blocked, as Pence made a visit to the Western Wall.

When an Israeli journalist asked him how he felt, the vice president said, “Inspired”.

Netanyahu thanked Trump and Pence for what he called the “historic statement” and declared the U.S. -Israel relationship has “never been stronger”.

The Palestinians said they would “continue complying with the treaties that we signed”, calling on Israel to do the same. He has weakened the Palestinians by cutting millions of dollars in aid for health and education projects for Palestinian refugees and then fanned new tensions with his one-sided decision on Jerusalem.

Palestinian schools were also closed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, however, businesses in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip remained open. “In the weeks ahead, our administration will advance its plan to open the United States Embassy in Jerusalem, and that United States Embassy will open before the end of next year”.

Washington says the Council is stacked with opponents of Israel and USA ambassador Nikki Haley told the Council last June that the United States was reviewing its participation given what it sees as its “chronic anti-Israel bias”.

The move by the White House broke with decades of US foreign policy which had previously refused to acknowledge either Israeli or Palestinian sovereignty over Jerusalem in hopes of reaching a two-state solution to the two parties intractable conflict.

In an interview with news agency AFP, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki said, €œsince Trump€™s decision has altered the rules of the game, he [Abbas] expects European foreign ministers to come forward and collectively recognise the state of Palestine as a way to respond to Trump€™s decision.€.

Also today, Pence said the timing of a long-awaited US Middle East peace initiative depends on the return of Palestinians to negotiations.

Pence reiterated throughout his travels that the USA would accept a two-state solution – if both parties agreed – and would respect the status quo with regard to holy sites and make no determination on final status with regard to boundaries.