U.S. President Donald Trump has still not made a final decision on whether or not to move the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
There’s a lot of speculation in the media about how the president will decide, because the deadline for signing the six-month waiver that would keep the Embassy in Tel Aviv for now, expires on June 1.
Numerous news outlets are quoting “an official” who has allegedly said the administration has prepared documents for both options. The waiver allows the president to delay the move for six months for reasons of national security.
According to a report published by The Hill quoting CNN, the relocation of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is “something the president supports, something he supported during the campaign, something he still supports.”
The “official” added that if the president signs the waiver this week, “that will not be indicative of him reversing his opinion; it will just be a question of timing. It will be when, not if.”
The president has mentioned during news conferences over the past month that he backs moving the embassy, but believes the timing may not be right due to the imminence of possible progress in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, or regional peace talks.
The issue of President Trump chasing down the “ultimate deal” in a regional peace agreement is not new. However, the issue of predicating the location of the embassy on the basis or outcome of such talks sadly is.