US President Donald Trump has called for calm and moderation in the Middle East, the White House said today, amid reports of clashes in the region following his decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
“The president has called for calm and moderation and we are hoping that the voices of tolerance prevail over purveyors of hate.
The president does remain committed to achieving a lasting peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” the White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters.
Shah defended Trumps decision on Jerusalem, saying “We think that the decision to recognise reality, and recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is the right decision”.
When asked if the President was warned that his decision on Jerusalem would lead to violence, Shah said: “Hes fully aware of potential ramifications but we believe strongly that if you are going to be an honest broker in the Middle East, you need to be honest, and recognising reality is the first part of that.”
On Wednesday, Trump in a major policy address had announced to recognise Jerusalem as the Israels capital. The decision was immediately welcomed by Israel, but has resulted in outrage in the Middle East and opposition from many American partners and allies.
One by one, 14 members of the UN Security Council spoke out against President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel at an emergency meeting on Friday, some with regret and some with anger at the 15th member, the United States.
It wasn’t the first time that the US stood alone in defending its close ally, Israel, in the UN’s most powerful body. Over decades, it has vetoed many council resolutions it viewed as harmful to Israel.
But this was a rare rebuke for an action the United States took that in the eyes of the rest of the council and most of the world clearly violates UN resolutions and decisions that Jerusalem is an issue to be resolved by Israel and the Palestinians in peace negotiations on a two-state solution.
The Trump administration has been working on a new Mideast peace proposal and US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council that the US is more committed to peace “than we’ve ever been before – and we believe we might be closer to that goal than ever before.”