Trump breaks campaign promise by not moving US Embassy to Jerusalem

President Trump has signed the waiver delaying the move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, according to a White House official.

Successive presidents of both parties have signed a six-month waiver since the Jerusalem Embassy Act was signed into law in 1995, perpetually forestalling the building's legislated move over concerns it could spark a diplomatic crisis and be a death knell to peace talks.

"He has repeatedly stated his intention to move the embassy", the White House said in a statement. This has been Spicer's answer to every question regarding the embassy move ever since Trump entered the White House in January.

In a statement, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that the president's decision doesn't mean he is backing off of his promise.

The Palestinians are praising President Donald Trump's decision not to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, saying it strengthens the chances of peace.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that Israel was "disappointed" by Trump's decision, arguing that the presence of embassies outside the city "drives peace further away by helping keep alive the Palestinian fantasy that the Jewish people and the Jewish state have no connection to Jerusalem".

The status of Jerusalem is one of the major stumbling blocks.

A senior Israeli official is expressing disappointment over Trump's decision against relocating the embassy to Jerusalem and is accusing the US of caving in to Arab pressure.

The official also defended the fact that Trump not moving the embassy was breaking a key campaign promise. He says pursuing a Mideast peace deal fulfills the president's "solemn obligation to defend America's national security interests".

Today, no country has an embassy in Jerusalem.

There was high speculation earlier this month, after Trump announced his trip to Israel, that he would use the visit - which came just before Jerusalem Day, when Israel commemorated 50 years since the Six Day War - to announce the move, something he had repeatedly pledged to do as a candidate.

When Israel was established a year later, the USA and other countries based their embassies in the Tel Aviv area instead of Jerusalem, out of respect for the United Nations plan. The long-standing US position is that Jerusalem's fate must be worked out through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

The American leader faced a Thursday deadline to renew the waiver or see the State Department lose half its funding for its overseas facilities.

The proposed move is highly controversial as Jerusalem is claimed as the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state.

Former President Barack Obama renewed the waiver in December, setting off a six-month clock for Trump.