Russia Has Grounds to Relocate Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Moscow has grounds for the relocation of its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Israeli Ambassador to Russia Gary Koren told Sputnik in an interview.

Earlier in the day, Koren said that Israel would welcome potential decision of the US presidential administration of Donald Trump to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

"I think that Russia has also the necessary grounds to make a brave decision on the issue," Koren said.

Israel declared Jerusalem its capital in 1949, but the United Nations recognizes East Jerusalem, including the Old City, to be part of Palestine. In 1967, Israel recaptured East Jerusalem from the neighboring Arab nation of Jordan.

A number of nations do not recognize the city's annexation and insist its status must be determined in the course of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. In turn, Palestine seeks to establish East Jerusalem as its own independent state's capital as more members of the international community begin to recognize the Palestinian state.

In September, Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his administration would recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.

On January 17, members of inter-Palestinian talks, which took place in Moscow on January 15-17, urged Washington to abandon plans of the US embassy relocation warning that it would trigger a new wave of violence in the Middle East.