Jordan: US recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital violates UN charter

The Jordanian government on Wednesday argued that President Trump’s recent move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel goes against the United Nations charter and does not have any legal basis.

“This recognition is legally invalid as it enshrines the Israeli occupation of the eastern part of the city, which was occupied by Israel in June 1967,” Mohammad al-Momani, Jordan’s Minister of State for Media Affairs, said in a statement.

{mosads}Al-Momani is referencing East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and was not part of the original lines drawn for the Jewish state in 1949.

In a press release, the Jordanian embassy in Washington, D.C., said the status of Jerusalem should be determined through peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. 

“The Kingdom stressed that the United States should play its primary role as a neutral intermediary to resolve the conflict and achieve peace on the basis of the two-state solution, which the world has endorsed as the only way to resolve the conflict and achieve lasting peace,” the release reads.

Jordan and the Palestinian National Authority have ordered an emergency meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Arab League to take place on Saturday in Cairo to address Trump’s decision about Jerusalem.

The reaction from Jordan comes after Trump on Wednesday officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and said the United States plans to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city. But the president signed a six-month waiver putting off the embassy move.