Israeli PM Netanyahu presses Trump on US embassy move

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for US President Donald Trump to make good on his campaign pledge to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Departing from a long-standing US position, Trump promised he would recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocate the American mission there, a pledge that drew a fierce rebuke from Palestinian officials and concern from the European Union.

"The US embassy must move here to Jerusalem," Netanyahu said after his weekly cabinet meeting.

"Jerusalem is Israel's capital and it would be good if the American embassy wasn't the only one to move here... I think that with time the majority of embassies will move to Jerusalem," he was quoted as saying by his office.

The Palestinians regard east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital.

The city's status is one of the thorniest issues of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1967. It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community.

(AFP)