White House: Jerusalem Embassy Move Not a Matter of 'If,' but 'When'

Dana Ritter
06-02-2017

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The White House position on moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem? It's not a question of "if," but a question of "when." That's what Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in his daily briefing, Friday.

 

 

President Trump signed a waiver Thursday delaying moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, even though as a candidate he campaigned on a promise to do so. This was a campaign promise that excited many Israelis and pro-Israel Christian voters. The White House says the promise is still a promise, though.

"No one should consider this step in any way to be a retreat from the President's strong support for Israel and for the US-Israeli relationship. The President made this decision to maximize the chance of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, fulfilling a solemn obligation to defend America's national security interest. But he has repeatedly stated his intention is to move the embassy. The question is not if that move happens, but when," Spicer said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying he was disappointed with the decision, but he still supports President Trump's commitment to moving the embassy in the future. A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said it's an "important positive step" and shows the US is serious about promoting peace.

American presidents going back to Bill Clinton have signed the waiver to keep the embassy in Tel Aviv. The reason is almost always because they are hoping to broker peace in the Middle East. CBN News will continue to follow President Trump's pursuit of the ultimate art of the deal.

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About The Author

Dana
Ritter

Dana Brown Ritter is the Washington, DC Bureau Chief for CBN News. She leads the DC team in coverage of the White House, Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court and other big stories in Washington, as they come up. Prior to returning to CBN News as DC Bureau Chief, Dana was the News Director at WBTW-TV, the CBS affiliate in Myrtle Beach, SC. She's been an Executive Producer at WAVY-TV in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach area, WTAE in Pittsburgh, and a producer at the DC Bureau for Hearst Television. Dana previously worked at CBN News as White House Producer and was the Executive Producer of "The Brody File
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