President of the United States Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. According to him, this is a "recognition of the reality existing at the moment," writes RT. Trump recalled that before the election, he promised to look at the problems with fresh eyes and kept that word. He became the first US president to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In addition, the President of the United States instructed the State Department to prepare for the transfer of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump for such a courageous decision.

"We are deeply grateful to the president for his brave and just decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," RIA Novosti quotes him.. At the same time, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, as reported by RIA Novosti, will gather in Istanbul on December 13 summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to condemn the decision of the United States and take appropriate measures. Such a statement has not yet been commented on in Moscow, but earlier, when information appeared about Trump's speech, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, expressed his opinion. "The situation is not easy. But we do not want to talk about decisions that have not yet been announced, "he said.. The international community has previously spoken out against such an initiative on the part of America.

Israel received full control over Jerusalem in 1967. , when, as a result of the Six Day War, he occupied the eastern part of the city and separated it from the western bank of the Jordan River. However, the UN considered the incident to be an illegal annexation and did not recognize Israel's sovereignty over the united Jerusalem. At present, both Israel and Palestine call Jerusalem their state capital, without recognizing such right for the other side. This issue is key in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.