Hello im Barbara Sarah this is the news hour live from london thank you for joining us our news today dominated by one story u. S. President donald trump confirms he has to recognize drew slim as israels capital the announcement is due imminently. A lot of people have said we have to do something and they didnt do it so well be talking about that something at one oclock. Palestinians have been protesting against the move which would mean the u. S. Embassy rather kates to the disputed city there has been a global condemnation of the jordanian king and turkish president among those warning that the move will fuel extremism. The u. S. President is due to announce his highly controversial decision to recognize jerusalem as israels capital and move the American Embassy there from tel aviv israel claims the whole city as its capital but this has never been recognized by any major player internationally until now the move has drawn early condemnation palestinian leaders in the occupied west bank and gaza are calling for three days of rage speaking a short time ago trump said the embassy moved to jerusalem was quote long overdue we have a big announcement coming up at one oclock perhaps a couple of you will be there maybe. But its a big. Concern in israel and the palestinians in the middle east and i think its long overdue. Ready president s of said they want to do something and they didnt do it whether its through courage or they change their mind i cant but a lot of people have said we have to do something and they didnt do it so well be talking about that something at one oclock welcome billy how kid is add the white house who of course little trump is due to make his speeches soon she joins us now live i mean since it sort of became known that the president was thinking along these lines a lot of people have sort of issued warnings a concern a lot of Global Leaders certainly palestinian leaders but he really seems undeterred theres any. Undeterred in that latest warning coming from the u. S. State department to its own employees cautioning state Department Officials to defer all nonessential travel to israel specifically jerusalem and the west bank as a result of this announcement i can tell you internally there has been some recognition even scrambling by the state Department Given the fact there is knowledge that there could be protests in potentially violent protests as a result of this announcement which is emitted from the diplomatic room of the white house where the president as you point out is set to not only officially recognize drew sloan as israels capital but also move the u. S. Embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem of course this is something that was mandated by the u. S. Congress into law in the one nine hundred ninety s. But for twenty two years every president has every six months deferred that action citing National Security as a reason for not implementing the move but it appears shortly donald trump about to change all of that we can believe our course waiting to hear from the president as you mentioned at the diplomatic room in the white house still empty but we are due to hear from him very soon and well of course cross live back to you for reaction when he does speak now though lets go to jerusalem itself harry foresaw joins us live now from west jerusalem up until not that long ago you were actually on the streets of the city just outside the old city of jerusalem what kind of atmosphere would you say there is there about this announcement which a lot of people are predicting will cause a lot of tension. Well indeed and the the atmosphere depends on which side of the divide you fall certainly for Benjamin Netanyahu is Key Coalition allies that the right wing are as youve been speaking at a political event earlier today theyve been welcoming it saying that the United States should be the first of many to do this saying that its part of the recognition of israel to recognize jerusalem as israels capital where we were in occupied East Jerusalem of course the sit the feeling was very different there was a sense of foreboding even incredulity that this was about to happen. For palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem the sudden arrival of winter on wednesday matched the news that the us president was set to recognize the city as israels capital. This is an insane move that will inflame the whole region because hes attacking all of our values our Sacred Places and our humanity and jerusalem according to un resolutions is the capital of two states if he does this today he will destroy the Peace Process that america is sponsoring while some of his colleagues have been publicly welcoming the move israels Prime Minister steered clear of the topic during a speech to foreign diplomats in jerusalem making only this oblique reference in a video for his Facebook Page as he drove away as our Historical National identity is receiving important expressions every day but particularly today its moving the u. S. Embassy from tel aviv was a Campaign Promise to important trunk financial donors such as Las Vegas Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson as well as trumps core right wing evangelical base President Trump needs them more than ever as his popularity ratings plummet jerusalem will remain the capital of israel and the months. Trump are certainly not the first to make such promises on the campaign trail but he will be the first to translate them into potentially hugely consequential action before his speech briefed arab leaders which led to this question at the state department briefing. It im wondering if you can say that the that hes gotten the support of anyone for any decision that he might make so again im not going to characterize those conversations minutes later the White House Press secretary was similarly korea about the decision. No again he spoke with five leaders thats hardly indicative of everybody across the globe. Israeli mayor of jerusalem said the embassy move could take two minutes by switching the sign on the current u. S. Consulate in west jerusalem white house staff who didnt want to be named later said that was not going to happen building a new embassy would take at least three to four years they also said that President Trump was simply affirming what they called reality both historical and modern that connected the state of israel to the city they argued issues of sovereignty would not change and said that not moving the embassy lets take you straight now to diplomatic room in the white house and President Donald Trump about to make his announcement about jerusalem. As i promised to look at the worlds challenges with open eyes and very fresh thinking we cannot solve our problems by making the same failed assumptions and repeating the same failed strategies of the past all challenges demand new approaches my announcement today marks the beginning of a new approach to conflict with israel in one nine hundred ninety five congress adopted the Jerusalem Embassy act urging the federal government to relocate the American Embassy to jerusalem and to recognize that that city and so importantly is israels capital. This act passed congress by an overwhelming bipartisan majority and was reaffirmed by unanimous vote of the senate only six months ago yet for over twenty years every previous american president has exercise the laws waver refusing to move the u. S. Embassy to jerusalem or to recognize jerusalem as israels capital city president s issue these waivers under the belief that delaying the recognition of jerusalem would advance the cause of peace some say they lacked courage but they made their best judgment based on facts as they understood them at the time nevertheless the record is in after more than two decades of waivers we are no to los or to a lasting Peace Agreement between israel and the palestinians it would be folly to assume that repeating the exact same formula would now produce a different or better result therefore i have determined that it is time to officially recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel while previous president s have made this a major Campaign Promise they failed to deliver today i am delivering ive judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of america and the pursuit of peace between israel and the palestinians. This is a long overdue step to advance the Peace Process and to work towards a lasting agreement israel is a sovereign nation with the right like every other sovereign nation to determine its own capital acknowledging this is a fact is a necessary condition for achieving peace it was seventy years ago that the United States under president truman recognized the state of israel ever since then israel has made its capital in the city of jerusalem the capital the jewish people established in ancient times today jerusalem is the seat of the modern Israeli Government it is the home of the Israeli Parliament the knesset as well as the Israeli Supreme Court it is the location of the official residence of the Prime Minister and the president it is the headquarters of many government ministries for decades visiting american president s secretaries of state and military leaders have met their israeli counterparts in jerusalem as i did on my trip to israel earlier this year jerusalem is not just the heart of three great religions but it is now also the heart of one of the most successful democracies in the world over the past seven decades the israeli people have built a country where jews muslims and christians and people of all faiths are free to live and worship according to their conscience and according to their beliefs. Jerusalem is today and must remain a place where jews pray at the western wall where christians walk the stations of the cross and where muslims worship at a locks mosque however through all of these years president s representing the United States have declined to officially recognize jerusalem as israels capital in fact we have declined to acknowledge any israeli capital at all but today we finally acknowledge the obvious that youre a slim is israels capital this is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality it is also the right thing to do its something that has to be done that is why consistent with the Jerusalem Embassy act i am also directing the state department to begin preparations to move the American Embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem this will immediately begin the process of hiring Architects Engineers and planners so that a new embassy when completed will be a magnificent tribute to peace in making these announcements i also want to make one point very clear this decision is not intended in any way to reflect a departure from our strong commitment to facilitate a lasting Peace Agreement. We want an agreement that is a great deal for the israelis and a great deal for the palestinians we are not taking a position of any final status issues including the specific boundaries of the israeli sovereignty in jerusalem or the resolution of contested borders those questions are up to the parties involved the United States remains deeply committed to helping facilitate a Peace Agreement that is acceptable to both sides i intend to do everything in my power to help forge such an agreement without question jerusalem is one of the most sensitive issues in those talks the United States would support a two state solution if agreed to by both sides in the meantime i call on all parties to maintain the status quo at jerusalems holy sites including the temple mount also known as horror all sheriff above all our greatest hope is for peace the universal yearning in every human soul with todays action i reaffirm my administrations long standing commitment to a future of peace and security for the region. There will of course be disagreement and dissent regarding this announcement but we are confident that ultimately as we work through these disagreements we will arrive at a peace and a place far greater in understanding and cooperation this sacred city should call forth the best in humanity lifting our sights to what it is possible not pulling us back and down to the old fights that have become so totally predictable peace is never beyond the grasp of those willing to reach so today we call for calm for moderation and for the voices of tolerance to prevail over their purveyors of hate our children shouldnt herit our love not our conflicts i repeat the message i delivered at the historic an extraordinary summit in saudi arabia earlier this year the middle east is a region rich with culture spirit and history its people are brilliant proud and diverse vibrant and strong but the incredible future awaiting this region is held that day by bloodshed ignorance and terror Vice President pence will travel to the region in the coming days to reaffirm our commitment to work with partners throughout the middle east to defeat radicalism that threatens the hopes and dreams of future generations it is time for the many who desire. Peace to expel the extremists from their midst so it is time for all civilized nations and people to respond to disagreement with region to debate not violence and it is time for young and moderate voices all across the middle east to claim for themselves a bright and beautiful future so today let us rededicate ourselves to a path of Mutual Understanding and respect let us reaching old assumptions and open our hearts and minds to possible and possibilities and finally i asked the leaders of the region political religious israeli and palestinian jewish and christian and muslim to join us in the noble quest for lasting peace thank you god bless you god bless israel god bless the palestinians and god bless the United Church thank you very much thank you. And that was President Donald Trump in living his much awaited speech on the status of jerusalem which he has said. The u. S. Recognizes as the capital of israel and hes also mentioned that he will move the embassy which is currently in tel aviv to jerusalem was quite a long relatively long speech he started by saying that he needed to approach it with fresh thinking that the same failed assumptions would not help find peace in the regions that old challenges needed a new approach he mentioned the jerusalem act which was passed in one thousand nine hundred ninety five in the us which states that the embassy would be moved from tel aviv to jerusalem and how that had through waivers that decision been postponed for twenty years but in those two decades the israelis and palestinians a got no closer to p. C. Mentioned that he was delivering on promises that other president s had made and he also finished by saying that this in no way meant that the u. S. Was no longer committed to facilitate what he called a lasting Peace Agreement and hoping to find a great deal that would be a great deal for both the israelis and the palestinians who are of course going to have a lot of reaction to the speech from across the region a lot of analysis here in the studio from our correspondents around the world lets start with kimberly how good she is at the white house joins us now live i mean obviously we predicted what what the main theme of the speech was going to be is there anything in it that struck a chord with you that perhaps you werent expecting or you wanted to see confirmation of. The speech is pretty much what we expected but sort of the presentation of it and some of the arguments certainly are going to provide an awful lot of fodder for some of the president s critics a couple of things come to mind the first one is the president talking there about how not only was this a bipartisan declaration and vote in the u. S. Congress with regard to the Jerusalem Embassy act something that was reaffirmed he pointed out over the summer but at the same time since the summer time and since that vote in the one nine hundred ninety s. There have in fact been a number of prominent u. S. Senators many of them democrats who have said theyve cautioned the president on doing this recognizing that it was going to harm the u. S. In terms of its interests in terms of trying to appear as an honest broker in terms of trying to stabilize some of the u. S. Interests overseas so thats the first thing that comes to mind thats a bit of a contradiction the other thing is you heard the president kind of touching there reference to some of his appearances when he was in the middle east talking about how he hopes that from this speech that hes given just now that this will be kind of a touchstone moment that will springboard towards a lasting peace that has not been achievable up to this point but we certainly know when the president was in the region much to the opposite occurred and so it seems like theres a bit of a denial of the facts on the ground as there might be the fact that the president sort of says one thing but then the opposite happens certainly he has not heeded the conversations of the caution that has been overwhelming in just the last forty eight hours with with World Leaders calling him saying despite the fact that you have just said in your speech that what you want is a lasting achievable peace hes gotten advice saying that if you do this if you break with the precedents of twenty two years of waving this move of the embassy you are going to be sending the exact opposite message it seems that the president obviously did not heed that advice believes that he is taking political courage doing Something Different but it may not have the intended results. Kimberly how kit at the white house kimberly thank you well now lets go straight to the palestinian city of ramallah hold up bill let me joins us live now i mean the speech obviously just finished a few minutes ago but what reaction in ramallah and also what did you make of it harder when were going to. Hear the reaction pretty soon we are expecting to hear from president Mahmoud Abbas in the coming hours i dont think this is i dont think they would be surprised. Weve been talking to many palestinian officials over the last twenty four hours and they were expecting such an amount spent now that its done they would they would still be that factored that they were completely stunned there was speculation people were wondering if he was going to recognize both jerusalem as the capital of israel and mounds to move of the u. S. Embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem or he was going to stop short of one of the two both of them have been an ounce probably president Mahmoud Abbas is looking over his speech right now trying to adjust to the words he has just heard and giving his response now. People are angered here people are very much disappointed and palestinians now do expect president mahmoud at best to take some bold step how much of a margin of maneuver he has that is something that many wonder they say that many would tell you and that was even before all of this started that president Mahmoud Abbas has been caving in too much to u. S. Pressure over the past few years there is days of rage that have been announced and tomorrow we are expecting some modest protests but you know when you hear President Trump saying that he is still committed to peace what we have been hearing from here is that actually such an announcement would be a kiss of death to the two state solution i recall when he when President Trump was here visited both. Israel and the occupied west bank back in may everybody was expecting him to talk about the two state solution from here well that did not happen and that the time to palestinian leadership was very disappointed now he talks about it now they will tell you that they feel that they really they were given they were just he has handed that out to them but its a bit chewed little late and many were complaining already at the time that you know theyve been hearing about the ultimate deal great peace for both sides where both sides will be fully satisfied they never heard details despite the many meetings they had with members of the trump administrations i think youre going to hear a flurry of condemnation youre going to see anger among many palestinians and also worry about what to come next President Trump was also talking about leaders in the middle east calling for tolerance calling on them to sort of try to stay calm and levelheaded in this situation earlier which. There was beginning to a palestinian senior official and he said to me well i dare to have one arab or muslim leader come out and say anything in support of the move of president that would be really political suicide for any leader in this region and beyond so it is a very difficult situation now for dipali stinney and certainly there are a great loss they will have to decide their then what to do next all what we heard so far is that if that indeed had to happen if this is announcement indeed has happened was they would then consider that the u. S. Is not anymore a broker. Or a mediator in the Peace Process is not a neutral mediator and that basically do you do u. S. Has sort of unconditionally put its weight behind israel at the cost of the palestinians what of it i mean the environment for the moment told us thank you and while we were speaking to hold of some reaction has been coming in from the israeli Prime MinisterBinyamin Netanyahu described the statement by President Trump as a historic landmark and then he went on to say that any peace deal with the palestinians must include jerusalem as israels capital that reaction coming in from the israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu force a lot more reaction coming in now will bring all of that to you here and aljazeera first lets go to harry for said he is our correspondent who is in west jerusalem for us right now in the speech harry the president said that basically what he was saying was nothing more or less than recognition of the truth the truth on the ground what do you make of that. Well i think there will be obviously very welcomed youve heard the initial reaction from Prime Minister netanyahu by the Israeli Government the they see this as in the same way that donald trump does this is where the Israeli Government sits its where most of the functioning of Israeli Foreign policy emanates from and so that will be welcome i mean i think one of the interesting things here was the way that trump did try to try to sweeten the pill a little bit towards the palestinians by saying that he was making it very clear that this in no way. Took away from the u. S. Efforts towards finding a lasting peace and that it did not in capsulated any final status arrangement in jerusalem that the limits of israeli sovereignty would have to be found in the final negotiation with the palestinians but i think the kind of sell that the white house has given on that front misses how deeply this will be felt on the palestinian side the fact that he is declaring jerusalem the capital of israel made no reference to a potential. Concomitant palestinian capital apart from talking about a final status negotiation and also the language that he used not just saying im pragmatic line is that this was the seat of government but that this was the ancient capital of the jews that it was the heart of one of the most flourishing democracy in this region there was no sort of can comment recognition of how palestinians feel about this the tens of thousands hundreds thousands of palestinians who live in occupied East Jerusalem who also view this city as their capital and do so while they live under occupation but still feel a nationalistic pride towards it and so while there was a lot. Bush designs to try to appeal to some kind of palestinian warm for at least trying to head off an outright rejection of it the balance of this will be felt very much on the palestinian side that this is entirely in israels favor perry for said life for us from west jerusalem harry thank you and now lets go to gaza speak to Bernard Smith bernard what reaction do you think i will see from gaza and of course this decision to move the embassy had been called the red line. Well because trumps statement is already been well telegraphed throughout the day weve already had protests this morning here in gaza weve had larger protests this evening even those very cold and windy and stormy nights here there are still people whove been protesting this evening earlier on how much the senior political leader Ismail Haniya hed said that trump would cross all the red lines by going ahead with his statement and hes gone ahead with it in the last few minutes one of the other factions here in gaza Islamic Jihad it said that what trungpa said is like the crusades against the muslims and the palestinians like the christian crusaders centuries ago that is the feeling here theres a feeling really of enormous frustration and a me and a feeling of enormous anger everybody now waiting to hear what palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will say in response to what trump has said but there is very Little People here could draw more out of trump speech to take comfort from because while as trump said effectively just formalizing the status of jerusalem because israels government operates out of there its cabinet meets there its parliament there is supremely courts there for the palestinians it mattered the jerusalem was not interact that was not internationally recognized as israels capital because they expect or hope that the state of his East Jerusalem will East Jerusalem will one day be their capital and they expect that topic to be up for negotiations in any peace talks now the feeling would be well thats just slipped the opportunity for that has just slip further away with from statement barbara earnest smith live from gaza thank you and now and here in the studio were joined by aljazeera senior political analyst and i want to share a listening to that speech are with us before weve been saying the kind of things wed be listening out for i mean he spoke about facilitating a lasting Peace Agreement but not a lot of deal of detail really from the president no this was the ultimate b. S. Speech this was not an american speech. This was an israeli speech uttered by an american president there was nothing american about the speech there was nothing making America Great again in this speech there was no american language there was no American Interest there was not america russia now for this speech this is an israeli speech written by someone like Prime Minister netanyahu or as ive been arguing throughout the day written by any one of the three ultra zionist advisors of President Trump which is jason green blot David Friedman and his son in law. Because everything he said about israel is the kind of language weve heard only from Prime Minister netanyahu we havent heard this language from anyone even even american president s or american leaders or even Republican Leaders the idea about jerusalem being at the heart of jewish history and about this being the victim of the jewish people this is israeli land which is not an american language and the idea that no longer is america committed to a two state solution america. I mean were just going to listen to any good harish from the u. N. And. Between the two parties on the basis of the Relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions taking into account the legitimate concerns of both the palestinian and israeli sides i understand the deep attachment that jerusalem alls in the hearts of so many people it just been so for centuries it will always be in this moment of great things i want to make it clear. There is no alternative to the two state solution there is no plan b. If hes only by realizing the vision of two states living side by side in Peace Security and little recognition we jews as the capital of israel and palestine and all final start to see issues resolved permanently soon negotiations that the legitimate aspirations of both peoples will be achieved for my part as United Nations secretary general i will do everything in my power to support these rarely and policy and leavers to return to meaningful negotiations and to realize these vision of the last thing peace for those peoples thank you very much. Secretary general of the United Nations there on tony good terry. Basically saying there is no plan b. That the u. N. And the International Community stands by the plan for a two state solution lets go to mike hanna hes at the u. N. In new york obviously also listening to what good parish had to say i mean no coincidence the speeches come literally minutes after donald trump finished finished his. Heres indeed only veiled criticism of President Trumps announcement but what you could terrorist was doing there was restricting what has been the un position on jerusalem for decades it sees it as International Territory at this stage it sees it as the future capital of both palestinians and israelis and it makes clear that the final status of jerusalem must be determined through negotiation so while not directly criticizing President Trump the u. N. Secretary general has made very clear his belief that any unilateral measures that would as he put it jeopardize the prospect of peace between israelis and palestinians will be deeply opposed by the United Nations and mike can i just while we were speaking we also got some reaction from the president of france he says the status of jerusalem must be determined by the israelis and palestinians through negotiations so that the president the crown of france and i guess it highlights in france had been vocal in the past few days over this is well how isolated is the u. S. In this move its decided to to make well deeply isolated very recently in fact at the end of last month the u. N. General assembly passed its most recent resolution on israel michaela forgive me lets listen to the israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu in the glorious history of the city your todays pronouncement by President Trump is such an occasion we are profoundly grateful for the president for his courageous and just decision to recognize use of them as the capital of israel and to prepare for the opening of the u. S. Embassy here this incision reflects the president s commitment to an ancient but enduring truth. To fulfilling these promises and to advance in peace the president s decision is an important step towards peace for there is no peace that doesnt include jerusalem as the capital of the state of israel i call on all countries that seek peace to join the United States in recognizing jerusalem as israels capital and to move their embassies here i share President Trumps commitment to advancing peace between israel and all of our neighbors including the palestinians this is been our goal from israels first day and we will continue to work with the president and his team to make that dream of peace come true. I also want to make clear there will be no change whatsoever to the status quo with the holy sites israel will always ensure freedom of worship for Jews Christians and muslims alike present trump thank you for todays historic decision to recognize jerusalem as israels capital the jewish people and the jewish state will be for ever grateful. I was israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu theyre obviously welcoming the words of President Trump he called it a historic landmark and that by thanking him lets just get some analysis now from our own bashar is still with us here in the studio what did you make of netanyahu speech well of course i mean he he must be grateful after all the american president the president of the world superpower just the right to rated netanyahu his own words i mean trump was a parrots. Repeating after tonight the now in terms of everything we know today about israels position on the question of palestine and the the funny or the sad thing is that its point by Point Barbara i mean its not just you know that just of it is israeli there are certain points that were more or less its clear that President Trump has drunk the koolaid he completely drank the koolaid netanyahu was koolaid that is and hes really written rating. Israeli position on jerusalem now as i was saying just when we left and im happy that the United Nations security general just stepped in and said what he said so briefly which is that the International Community is committed to a two state solution not like what President Trump said which is i am supportive of a two state solution if the two parties are. Israel isnt so what does that mean theres going to be no two state solution because israel isnt well lets just put it differently what if. You leave it to israelis and palestinians to decide the future of occupation what it is or does not want to do by palestine does the International Community does the United States allow israel to remain occupying power over another people until the end of times so there is something dramatically new in what President Trump told us this evening wrapped up in the language of peace and civility in fact this was a declaration of war against the Palestinian People and their rights and against the International Community and its commitment to International Law and to a two state solution as weve been hearing it from not only various european and arab leaders but also from previous american president now again i just ask it one thing towards the end of the speech he mentioned the speech that he made in saudi arabia you know a few months ago which i was i made a lot of headlines when he specifically pointed the finger at iran from almost all the worlds and on the middle east what did you think of him placing that in this speech about jerusalem you know i think. I think iran is the sort of is the pretext of why and now. That you know the american president s are long with his clients in the region are scaring every one of the iranian men us in order to pass these issues of you sions and these initiatives in favor of it in favor of israel and thats why once again i emphasize that these are israeli words not american words these are israeli interests not American Interests there is no American Interest today in fighting iran door to door its like as we were saying before the joke was that the saudi and the saudis and the israelis want to fight iran until the last american soldier. Because in the end of the day it is not americas interest today to step in again after its devastating war of two thousand and three against iraq on force pretense to declare war against iran again on for st and so the so the issue here today is that we talk about realism the american president talks about jerusalem in reality there has been the the state capital of israel but also in riyal it see East Jerusalem has been occupied city according to International Law according to the United NationsSecurity Council resolution which the United States is part of the United NationsSecurity Council so all in all the reality is is pakistan remains occupied East Jerusalem remains occupied but we have an american president who is willingly repeating after his clients words and cliches and misinformation and bad interpretation of history. Not exactly in the service of American Interests rather the contrary argue that the consequences of this on the long term for the United States in the middle east in the wider middle east its going to be disastrous america just opened the gates of hell if not in the short term on the long term in the muslim world because this is if anything a declaration of war against the Palestinian People and their rights in their homelands one senior political analyst for the moment thank you lets go back to the United Nations now and speak out to mike hanna mike before i had to leave you because we got Prime Minister netanyahu speech were talking about just how isolated the u. S. Is within the International Community when it comes to this move in and their view towards the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Well the most recent resolution within the United NationsGeneral Assembly came at the end of last month one hundred fifty one members voted in favor of a resolution that said the exercise physics of israeli law in East Jerusalem was null and void because israel was an occupying power in contravention of the geneva conventions now that was supported by one hundred fifty one nine nations abstained six nations including micronesia and the United States voted against seconds you some idea of how isolated the United States is within the u. N. I must mention too as well that earlier this year russia came forward and recognized west jerusalem as the capital of israel no talk about moving embassies making very clear to that it was referring to the west of the city not the occupying eight east the east that has been occupied there since the one nine hundred sixty seven war which is still seen as an illegal occupation not just by the United Nations but by the full force of International Law last mention of going on here at the United Nations the ambassador from bolivia has said earlier that should President Trump go ahead with his recognition the bolivians will be calling for an urgent meeting of the Security Council others in the hours ahead likely to join me and not likely to see that urgent meeting taking place in the course of the day but its certainly going to be within the next few days there will be an urgent meeting of the Security Council to discuss this move by President Trump mike hanna at the u. N. For the moment mike thank you and lets get the views now of haiti and their resident nonresident senior fellow with the center for middle east policy at the Brookings Institution also former deputy special envoy for Israeli Palestinian negotiations joins me live now from washington d. C. Thank you so much for joining us here on aljazeera in a speed. President mentioned the one thousand nine hundred ninety five Jerusalem Embassy act saying that lots of president s sort of you know effectively just kept on waving it and that all that he was doing was just saying what the truth was on the ground i mean what what do you think about that is the really the first president makes good of an election promise or is this a major turn in american policy. This is a major turn in american policy and i think were going to look back on this day years from now as the day that the United States gave up its leadership role in Israeli Palestinian ago shushan the United States has effectively broken with International Law broken with its own history and abandoned the role of even the pretense of being an honest broker in the Israeli Palestinian conflict i can assure you from my years in the state department that almost to a person there is no seasoned u. S. Foreign policy professional who would have supported this move they obviously did the best they could to massage the president s speech to try to make it more palatable. To a broader audience but this is definitely a break and the other thing i want to say is whats notable here is we heard immediately from Prime Minister netanyahu we heard immediately from the United Nations and so and so for me what that tells me is two things number one as you already see in the Immediate Response from the United Nations of the United States is beginning to give up its leadership role and there is a notable absence we have not heard from any major leader in the arab world we have not yet heard from palestinian leadership and so i think what this also tells us is that while the u. S. Is giving up its leadership role unfortunately the arab world gave up its leadership role here long ago that is let me just let me saying in action they have not represented the voices of their people let me just correct you briefly because i think while we were speaking we actually did get reaction from one arab country egypt we just heard egypt rejects the u. S. Decision to me and im to see to jerusalem and that statement coming from the Foreign Ministry says so far as far as i can see that is the well the first from a major arab country the First Official reaction that weve had what more kinds of reactions do you think we can expect from the arab world on this. Well look lets look at the lets everyones been talking about of the last few days what would happen if trump made the speech now that hes made a speech lets lets run down implications number one i think this makes it far more difficult for the Palestine Liberation Organization to continue in good faith negotiations it emboldens hamas to. Urge the p. L. O. To step out and to attack israel it undermines the crucial p. L. O. Hamas negotiations to to restore p. L. O. Leadership in gaza it inflames religious leaders across the muslim world who are going to make it even more difficult for their. Leaders to to make compromises if as an american i feel like this does nothing to support u. S. National security this does nothing to support our Foreign Policy interests and i would even make the case that by extension is only undermines israels National Security and israels interests israel has long sought better relations in the arab world better relations in the region and it has done so under the cover of sort of American Protection by undermining the little legitimacy of the United States in this very divisive issue i feel that it actually also undermines israels security and i mean this is obviously a very wide question but why do you think he did do it then considering how many people were advising him against it. Its really hard to say it was a Campaign Promise that he made it was also a Campaign Promise that george w. Bush made and going back to bill clinton that bill clinton made when they got into office their advisers looked at the facts and they came to understand that it was an unwise move it was not in the United StatesNational Security interests it was not in United States commercial business interests to do this the United States has understood for seventy years that jerusalem is a deeply emotional and special place for christians muslims and jews and because of that from the outset they always understood that christians muslims and jews israelis and palestinians all needed a stake in jerusalem. Despite the nuance that the president s team tried at the state department probably tried to put into the president s speech here despite that nuance i think its its too its going to be lost. On the street and its i think its really going to undermine. Us now screen out now why did the president do it he made a Campaign Promise this president is a disrupter he walked away from the iran agreement hes walked away from paris climate agreement and so why not pick a nother agreement to walk away from i want to dispel a notion that i have that ive started hearing in the last few days you know a question is this a master stroke by President Trump. To somehow jumpstart or accelerate the Peace Process i cant see any way that it is you know on the one hand if i were in the government of israel id be a little bit nervous right now because now that the president has given you something that youve asked for for seventy years he might ask for something really big in return on the other hand i dont think that theres anything that this governing coalition in israel can give to present the. In the United States that would be big enough to give to the palestinians to make it all worthwhile so for a president who has prided himself as as being the grand negotiator hes given something away without being able to get something in return and i again i dont see any benefit to this now says. Were going to have to leave it there had the from the center for middle east policy at the Brookings Institution thank you and now were joined on the line by the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization cybernetic out on the phone from jericho mr erekat welcome to aljazeera first question obviously your response to the speech i believe didnt from just disqualified distance from any possible role a process. He had officially declared the destruction of the two state solution because its meaningless to have a policy or talk about these when he accepts national because you want them. Because were. Destroyed any part of this war because i think its very war that correction israeli settlements and that we know them the region out of those folks. Going on about thats giving our countrymen and that region i really believe that the. President would call for an emergency session for the Palestine Central Council or another through all options available and taking decisions required for that but as the chief of the arctic ocean at the. Present from twenty five years from any possible remember how can you. Talk about peace with the. Future of jerusalem before the negotiations begin the motivation of International Law in total violation of sign not such a taking action that preempt what weve got issues is that for parents that is the same time he speaks about moderation children and the future is pushing with regional powers. Violence in violation of International Terms of signs and violations or everything i mean why hes taking such a decision why are you trying to make peace with. That maybe for him. But that is the most dangerous decision of the american presence as i think and to announce that he accepts the annexation there legally next action. By the Israeli Occupying power. Obviously weve known for a couple of days that President Trump was probably going to announce the relocation of the embassy and then calling jerusalem the capital of israel is there anything and the palestinian leadership called for the three days of rage when that was announced is there anything that you could have heard in the speech that perhaps would have made you i dont use the word hopeful lightly but that maybe would have made you think that there was a glimmer of hope so for example if he had mentioned more clearly a two state solution if he had mentioned the possibility of East Jerusalem as the capital of a future palestinian is now. You know. Its on the flipper complain. And a question of if you will and if you really listen opinion stairs without your assembling its capital and i really believe that the only option. That the only option for the present from the story the prospects for peace and it was the solution is to part for equal rights from the river but its really. What kind of reaction would you want to see now from other arab nations to this well i think all of us in the king of jordan and egypt who. Are looking for a quiet think thats what i know they called him yesterday or he called them and told him dont do it its very dangerous its really undermining all of them my daughter up mother and son i was pursuing an extremism and this region and is pushing this region towards again. The site of etiquette secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization sir thank you so much for having joined us here on aljazeera. Were obviously going to continue with our coverage of this developing story here on aljazeera with more reaction from obviously the palestinian territories israel the United States and the rest of the arab world or indeed around the world really had reaction from the secretary general and to new terror is of the United Nations saying very clearly that as far as the u. N. Is concerned there is no plan b. A two state solution with a negotiated peace between the israelis and the palestinians we can see now the images that youre seeing are images of the western. From the old city of jerusalem and that now you can see a picture of the israeli flag a few minutes before there was a picture of the American Flag wed also heard from the israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu holding the statement by the u. S. President to a historic landmark and in his speech sankey in the u. S. For what they have said and what President Trump plans to do with the embassy a lot more coverage here on aljazeera stay with us thanks for watching. The head of the september twenty Fourth NationalElection Survey showed germans satisfied with the state of their economy this is easily estonias biggest tech Success Story the company was bought by microsoft in two thousand and eleven we bring you the stories that are shaping the economic world we live in counting the cost at this time on aljazeera. To. Indulge your five senses thanks love to make loans to suffering because behind the suffering a millions of taxpayers because us taxpayers never go away is a new one born every single day and it is an Urgent National necessity that we officially request the activation of the support mechanism we created together because i happen to live in greece somehow i am a sinner im a bad person. Machine at this time. December on aljazeera we look back at twenty seventeen through the eyes of five families have been affected by some of the big stories of the yeah in an increasingly polarized world people in power sheds light on the darkest abuses of Authority Ten days of comprehensive coverage about Nuclear Arsenals around the globe and the impact they have on the diplomatic stage a special program dedicated to this years Nobel Peace Prize laureates i can and their pursuit of a Nuclear Weapon free world and we look ahead to the big stories that could dominate the headlines in twenty eighteen. December on aljazeera. It is time to officially recognize jerusalem