The Reform Movement in the US has stated that it opposes US President Donald Trump’s plan to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy absent of a “comprehensive plan for a peace process.”
In its statement on Tuesday night, President of the Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Rick Jacobs described the move as “ill-timed” and said that moving the embassy would “exacerbate the conflict.”
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The rabbi did however underline the Reform Movement’s position that Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and of Israel and that the embassy should eventually be moved to the holy city.
“Yet, while we share the President’s belief that the US Embassy should, at the right time, be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, we cannot support his decision to begin preparing that move now, absent a comprehensive plan for a peace process,” said Jacobs.
״Additionally, any relocation of the American Embassy to West Jerusalem should be conceived and executed in the broader context reflecting Jerusalem’s status as a city holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.״
Jacobs pointed out that Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, said this week that an Israel-Palestinian agreement would help bring stability to the Middle East, but said that “unilateral decisions” by Trump regarding the US embassy “are all but certain to exacerbate the conflict.”