Palestinian PM: We thank Romania for decision not to move its Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said in a briefing to Romanian journalists on Wednesday that he thanks Romania for the decision not to move its Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and that he calls on the leaders in Bucharest to leave this topic behind. 

Asked if he trusts that the Bucharest decision is final, he answered yes. 

We trust Romanians, we were told that the embassy would not be moved, we hope that the embassy will not be moved, but of course in politics things change. We hope that this political move will not take place and I call on the Romanian leaders to leave this topic behind and not to approach it anymore, being in harmony with the position of the European Union, with our position and with the international one. If anyone wants to please President Trump, the price should not be paid in a Palestinian coin, the Prime Minister underlined. 

He said the move of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is "a wrong political message." 

We thank Romania, which decided not to move the Embassy to Jerusalem. We appreciate this fact and I say why: moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a wrong message, it is a wrong political message because the Israelis have accepted that Jerusalem is on the negotiating table. No one should take unilateral measures regarding Jerusalem, because it is an occupied territory, and Europe has a clear position on this issue and no one must stray from this direction because, at present, the Romanian authorities who have decided not to move the embassy are on the side of peace and justice, said Mohammad Shtayyeh. 

At the end of May, Premier Viorica Dancila said that the decision to move the Romanian Embassy from Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem belongs to President Klaus Iohannis. 

"As you know, I have publicly expressed my decision. The decision belongs to the President of Romania, and you know very well that the move of an embassy is decided by the President of Romania. My opinion is that a political decision must exist. In the USA, in Washington, I said my point of view [that the decision must be] also in consensus and by observing the constitutional provisions," Dancila said then.