As Jerusalem Embassy Waiver Deadline Looms, Conflicting Reports on What Trump Will Do

President Trump is required by this weekend to issue a waiver if he does not intend to begin the process of moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and the White House has played down reports that a significant announcement is imminent.

 

Conflicting media reports are speculating that Trump will either: issue the waiver for another six months; not issue the waiver and announce plans to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel’s capital; or issue the waiver but in an announcement formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital and signal plans for the embassy move in the future.

 

Reporting on the latter scenario, the Wall Street Journal said the administration has notified U.S. embassies abroad about the coming announcement, enabling them to “inform their host governments and prepare for possible protests.”

 

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert insisted Thursday that “no decision has been made on that matter yet.”

 

She said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “is talking to the White House about that matter, and I know we’re having a lot of conversations about that as well. But again, I want to underscore that no decision has been made yet.”

 

Source: As Jerusalem Embassy Waiver Deadline Looms, Conflicting Reports on What Trump Will Do