BICOM

The UN Security Council will discuss the US Jerusalem announcement this afternoon after requests from the UK, Bolivia, Egypt, France, Italy, Senegal, Sweden and Uruguay.

The Palestinian mission to the UN sent a letter to the President of the UN Security Council saying that US President Donald Trump’s declaration violated numerous Security Council resolutions and was liable to precipitate endless religious war.

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said, following a speech he gave about battling Islamic extremism yesterday, that “there is an opportunity, there is a conjuncture of the stars, there is a moment – people think – when progress could be made”. Johnson went on to say: “I think, this decision having been announced by President Trump, the world would like to see some serious announcements by the US about how they see the Middle East peace process and how to bring the two sides together.”

Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, UK Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Alistair Burt said that the UK had supported the UN Security Council session and hoped it would be the start of moving the peace process forward.

Burt said the UK Government thought the US announcement was unhelpful and confirmed that the UK Embassy was not going to move from Tel Aviv, saying “Jerusalem should ultimately be a shared capital of the Israeli and Palestinian states” and therefore there must be a negotiated settlement between the two sides.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry argued that the status of Jerusalem must form a part of a negotiated peace deal between the two sides, adding that Trump “hadn’t cried fire in a theatre, but set the theatre on fire”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was “deeply concerned” by the decision to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital despite a Russian statement earlier this year that recognised West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In April, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that “we reaffirm our commitment to the UN-approved principles for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, which includes the status of East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. At the same time, we must state that in this context we view West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel”.

Turkish state media said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held telephone talks with Pope Francis to discuss Trump’s announcement.

French President Emmanuelle Macron called the announcement “regrettable,” and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany did not support the decision and the EU expressed “serious concern”.