Final Jerusalem Status Up To Palestinians, Israelis, Haley Says

(Bloomberg) -- Nikki Haley, the top U.S. representative at the United Nations, said the final status of Jerusalem should be “should be decided between the Palestinians and the Israelis.”

Haley’s comments, reiterating U.S. policy, came after President Donald Trump prompted dismay from world leaders, including close U.S. allies, with his decision to recognize the disputed city as Israel’s capital. Trump said on Dec. 6 that the U.S. will move its embassy there from Tel Aviv.

“The president, if you notice, in his speech, he made a point not to talk about borders or boundaries," Haley said on “Fox News Sunday,” one of her three appearances on Sunday political talk shows. “No outside group should decide what the final status looks like.”

Asked if East Jerusalem could end up the capital of a Palestinian state, Haley said the U.S. “will respect anything that the two parties come together on.”

Peace ‘Fastball’

Haley said Trump’s decision could “fastball” the peace process, echoing a comment by National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster on Dec. 3 that moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv could give “momentum” to peace talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday reiterated his opposition to the U.S. decision on Jerusalem, joining an array of leaders from Turkey to the U.K.

Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations committee, said Sunday that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel but that Trump fails to recognize the need to engage multiple parties in the peace process.

No to State

“The president is damaging America’s national security and our standing in the world for his inability to use diplomacy in the right way,” Cardin said on ABC’s “This Week” of Trump’s relations in several parts of the world.

Haley also shot down speculation she could take over the State Department if Secretary of State Rex Tillerson leaves. “I would not take it” if offered, she said.

She also said “the full U.S. Olympic team” will attend the winter games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February, after having said earlier in the week that tensions with North Korea could affect U.S. attendance.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Brody in Washington at btenerellabr@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Bernard Kohn

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