Arab League warns against 'dangerous' Trump's decision on Jerusalem

U.S. President Donald Trump [File Photo: AP]

Arab League (AL) chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned Tuesday of the "danger" of the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital or relocating its embassy there, an AL statement said.

Aboul Gheit called on Washington to reconsider the issue.

"The possible move of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem or recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital would be a dangerous measure that would have repercussions across the region," official news agency MENA quoted the statement as saying.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump delayed a decision on whether to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and move the U.S. embassy there.

The White House said Trump would miss a deadline to decide on shifting the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, after a frantic 48 hours of public warnings from allies and private phone calls between world leaders.

"Given the danger of this matter, if it were to happen, and the possible negative consequences not only for the situation in Palestine but also for the Arab and Islamic region," Aboul Gheit told the AL meeting at the headquarters of the pan-Arab organization.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 war. It later annexed East Jerusalem, which has never been recognized by the international community.

The Palestinians consider East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

The status of Jerusalem has been a cause for conflict between Israel and Palestine.