US President Donald Trump is stepping back from his campaign pledge to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds.
He was expected to renew a waiver that keeps the embassy in Tel Aviv, White House sources told various media outlets Wednesday.
On the 2016 campaign trail, the real estate tycoon came up with the controversial proposal that could wreak havoc in the region.
Signing the waiver would mean no embassy relocation for at least another six months.
No final decision has yet been made in regard to relocation, according to a source but paperwork for both scenarios have been prepared for the president’s approval.
Since Trump’s inauguration in January, Tel Aviv has increasingly become emboldened in its expansionist plans for Jerusalem al-Quds.
Israel lays claim to the entirety of Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital while Palestinians want its eastern part as the capital of their future state.
Since his campaign pledge at the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) last year, Trump has been pressured to make the move.
At a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February, Trump said the issue of embassy relocation was being considered “with great care.”
"You know I'm not a person who breaks promises." Trump told a conservative Israeli news outlet in January.
During its long history, the holy city has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.