US ’s capital, senior administration officials have said.<\/p>\n
He is due to announce the controversial decision in a speech later.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump is also expected to approve moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but not for several years.<\/p>\n
Israel welcomes the changes but the Palestinians and Arab leaders have warned they will jeopardise any Middle East peace process.<\/p>\n
The Palestinians’ UK representative, Manuel Hassassian, told the BBC the changes would be the “kiss of death” to the two-state peace solution and amounted to declaring war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to comment officially but Education Minister Naftali Bennett called on other countries to follow Washington’s lead.<\/p>\n
“Jerusalem has been and always will be the eternal capital,” he told the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference.<\/p>\n
Pope Francis called for the “status quo” to be respected. Dialogue would only come through “recognising the rights of all people” in the region, he said.<\/p>\n
And UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, said he viewed the reports of what Mr Trump would say “with concern”.<\/p>\n
Israel has always regarded Jerusalem as its capital city, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.<\/p>\n
In recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the US becomes the first country to do so since the foundation of the state in 1948.<\/p>\n
The issue goes to the heart of Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, who are backed by the Arab and wider Islamic world.<\/p>\n
The city is home to key religious sites sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity, especially in East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
Israel annexed the sector from Jordan after the 1967 Middle East war and regards the entire city as its indivisible capital.<\/p>\n
According to the 1993 Israel-Palestinian peace accords, its final status is meant to be discussed in the latter stages of talks.<\/p>\n
Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem has never been recognised internationally and all countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n
Since 1967, Israel has built a dozen settlements, home to about 200,000 Jews, in East Jerusalem. These are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.<\/p>\n
In recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the US could reinforce Israel’s position that settlements in the east are valid Israeli communities.<\/p>\n
Trump administration officials said recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was seen as “a recognition of reality” by the US government.<\/p>\n
However, specific boundaries of the city would remain subject to a final status agreement, the official said. The status of holy sites would not be affected.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump would also direct the state department to begin the process of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem – but this could take several years as it still has to be designed and built and security concerns would need to be addressed.<\/p>\n
He originally promised the move to pro-Israel voters during his campaign for the presidency.<\/p>\n
The US officials added that the president would still sign a regular waiver blocking the embassy’s move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem until the new building was completed.<\/p>\n
Successive presidents have signed waivers, officially on security grounds, to get round the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, which mandates moving the embassy.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump has vowed to pursue a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, led by his son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner.<\/p>\n
An administration official said the new US policy on Jerusalem was not designed to favour Israel in that process.<\/p>\n
US government employees and their families have been barred from personal travel in Jerusalem’s Old City and the West Bank for security reasons ahead of expected protests.<\/p>\n
Israel’s intelligence minister Israel Katz told Army Radio that Israel was “preparing for every option”, including an outbreak of violence.<\/p>\n
France, the European Union and the Arab League have also expressed concern.<\/p>\n
Analysis by Barbara Plett-Usher, state department correspondent, BBC News<\/strong><\/p>\n By recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital President Trump is fulfilling a campaign promise. There is no other obvious reason he is doing this now.<\/p>\n Administration officials said he would simply be acknowledging reality – that Jerusalem functions as Israel’s capital. They said the decision would not determine final status issues such as boundaries and sovereignty – that is still left to negotiations.<\/p>\n On other core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Arab and Muslim leaders may be able to work with changes in the US approach but Jerusalem is also holy land, not just a disputed capital.<\/p>\n Jordan and Saudi Arabia are custodians of Islam’s holy sites and have issued strong warnings that this move could inflame the Muslim world.<\/p>\n There is also no indication that this is a bargaining chip to advance the peace process: according to the officials, President Trump is not expected to publicly endorse a two-state solution.<\/p>\n It sounds like the Palestinians will get nothing. Perhaps there is a wider strategy at work but it looks like a workaround so the president can satisfy his pro-Israel voters.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"