Jerusalem Mayor Meets Trump Israel Envoy In White House

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King Abdullah II meets President Donald Trump.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat met Friday with US President Donald Trump’s Israel peace envoy Jason Greenblatt on Friday at the White House.

The two discussed two discussed “issues relating to Jerusalem.” according to the Jerusalem Municipality.

 Barkat released the following statement.

“On Friday I met special envoy to US President for International Negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, at the White House, we discussed affairs pertaining to Jerusalem.

Greenblatt is a real lover of Jerusalem and the strengthening of Jerusalem is very important to him.”

Last week, Greenblatt met with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Trump has said he wanted to explore the possibilities for making what he has called “the ultimate deal,” of peace between  Israel and the Palestinians.

“No deal is a good deal if it isn’t good for all sides… We are currently in a process that has been going on for a long time. Decades. A lot of people think that it can’t be done. And a lot of smart people around me claim that you can’t reach an agreement. I don’t agree. I think we can reach an agreement and that we need to reach an agreement.”

Greenblatt set out terms that US would not oppose the construction of new homes in Jewish neighborhoods over the pre-1967 lines in East Jerusalem as long as no new homes would be built in isolated settlements.

During his campaign Trump promised to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel’s declared capital, Jerusalem —Barkat and many israelis assumed it was a done deal,  have said they thought was a done deal, but since then Trump has backtracked and said he is reviewing the deal.

“I’m thinking about it. I’m learning the issue and we’ll see what happens,” Trump was quoted as saying in an interview with Israel Hayom.“It’s not an easy decision. It’s been discussed for so many years. No one wants to make this decision, and I’m thinking about it seriously.”

King Abdullah II meets President Donald Trump.

The backtracking comes after pressure from former U.S. diplomats, Palestinians,  King Abdullah II of Jordan and many other Arab leaders who have warned Trump that moving the embassy to Jerusalem  could ignite violence by Muslims in an attempt to defend what they see as a threat against their holy places in the heart of Jerusalem.

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