Kushner says Trump still considering embassy move to Jerusalem

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US President Donald Trump is still weighing a decision on whether to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Al Jazeera News quoted White House senior adviser Jared Kushner as saying.

Kushner, who is also Trump's son-in-law, said that the president is "still looking at a lot of different facts," during the keynote address at the annual Saban Forum in Washington on Sunday.

"When he makes his decision, he'll be the one who will want to tell you," he added.

Israel claims East Jerusalem as its territory; until now the US and other countries have not recognized this. /AFP Photo

Trump vowed during his campaign that he would move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but has so far not fulfilled the promise, said Qatar based news network's report.

Reports emerged on Friday that Trump could again delay moving the embassy, but recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Many feel that moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would inflame tensions in the Middle East and upset the Palestinian leadership.

Israel declared Jerusalem to be its undivided and eternal capital in 1980, but Israel's claim to the entire city remains unrecognized by the international community. Palestinians want occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of any future state.

No country currently has its embassy in Jerusalem – all such diplomatic missions are located in Tel Aviv.

Saeb Erekat, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, condemned this week any potential US recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, said the report.

Jerusalem is "the social, political, cultural, religious and economic heart of Palestine," he said in a statement.

Jordan's King Abdullah (pictured with Queen Rania) said recognizing Jerusalem as the capital could be used by terrorists to stoke anger. /Reuters Photo

"If the US administration decides to contradict its international commitments and historic foreign policy by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, it is not only going to promote international anarchy and disrespect for global institutions and law, but it will also be disqualifying itself to play any role in any initiative towards achieving a just and lasting peace," added Erekat.

PJ Crowley, the former US assistant secretary of state for public affairs, told Al Jazeera that "up until now, the US has deferred taking such a step because it was viewed as potentially prejudicial to final status negotiations between the parties."

"If Washington changes that posture and declares Jerusalem (or at least some of it) to be the Israel capital, then how will the Trump administration balance that gesture with the Palestinians," said Crowley, who is also the author of Red Line: American Foreign Policy in a Time of Fractured Politics and Failing States.

"We don't know, but it's not clear to me either why the White House feels that now is the right time to stir the hornet's nest."