Will Trump Bring Israel-Palestinian Peace Deal? US Embassy Move To Jerusalem Won't Happen Quickly

President Donald Trump’s administration reaffirmed plans to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians claim as their capital. However, the plans were to do so slowly and cautiously to avoid undermining peace agreement efforts between the Western backed Israel and the territories it occupies, CNN reported Monday, citing administration officials.

The report came a day after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the new administration was “at the very beginning stages” of talks regarding a transplant of the embassy to the disputed region, where illegal settlements by Israelis have already been described by the United Nations as a violation of international law.

On a Sunday phone call with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump invited the leader to visit Washington, D.C., in February, and “agreed to continue to closely consult on a range of regional issues, including addressing the threats posed by Iran,” the White House said in a statement following the call.

Trump, the statement said, viewed the conflict between Israel and Palestine as one that “can only be negotiated directly between the two parties.” The U.S. “will work closely with Israel to make progress towards that goal,” it added.

The main Trump adviser handling the issue, the unnamed official told CNN in the Monday morning report, was Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The husband of Ivanka Trump, Kushner—who, like his father-in-law, hails from New York real estate wealth—is the grandson of Holocaust survivors and comes from an Orthodox Jewish family. Kushner’s senior adviser role in the administration, however, may be an illegal one, as it violates Title V of the U.S. Code, which bars federal officials from hiring relatives.

Israelis see Kushner as an ally, the New York Times reported. His boss has also been vocal about his pro-Israel leanings, criticizing a recent UN resolution classifying Israel’s encroachment on occupied Palestinian territory as unlawful.

The diplomatic warmth has been generally mutual. Netanyahu tweeted his congratulations Friday, the day of Trump’s inauguration.