Zeev Elkin, Israel’s Minister for Jerusalem Affairs and Environmental Protection, has criticised U.S. President Donald Trump after Trump said he was prioritising an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan over campaign promise to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Elkin, considered close to Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told Israel’s Army Radio that “this was an election promise of President Trump and I regret the delay.”

In an interview broadcast on Saturday on TBN network, Trump described the Israeli-Palestinian peace deal as “toughest deal of all.

“I want to give that a shot before I even think about moving the embassy to Jerusalem,” Trump said.

Israel considers Jerusalem to be its capital and has long urged the U.S. to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to the ancient city.

U.S. presidents had refrained from doing so, saying such a move would endanger the peace process.

Israel captured the eastern half of Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War and annexed the territory in a move that was not internationally recognised.

The Palestinian Authority says that East Jerusalem will be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Source  punchng.com