Visiting French President Emmanuel Macron attends a news conference in Algiers, Algeria, on Dec. 6, 2017. Visiting French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that France does not support U.S. President Donald Trump's "unilateral" decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. "The decision is unilateral and regrettable, and France does not support it," Macron told a news conference in Algiers after his one-day visit to the North African nation. (Xinhua)
ALGIERS, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Visiting French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that France does not support U.S. President Donald Trump's "unilateral" decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
"The decision is unilateral and regrettable, and France does not support it," Macron told a news conference in Algiers after his one-day visit to the North African nation.
He said that the U.S. decision would complicate the situation in the Palestinian territories and the Middle East.
In a speech from the White House on Wednesday, Trump announced the decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordered to start immediately the process of relocating the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem lies at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Trump's controversial move is expected to enrage the Muslim world, which has already warned of serious consequences.
While Israel took over East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war and declared the whole city as its eternal indivisible capital in 1980, it has not been recognized by the international community.
The Palestinians insist that they should establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital in the final settlement.
