FURY OF THE ARAB STATES

IRAN IRAN has sent arms and support to Palestinian militant groups including Hamas in their fight against Israel.

Its foreign ministry said: ‘America’s provocative and unwise decision to recognise Quds [Jerusalem] as the capital of the Zionist regime will not help peace and stability in the region . . . This decision will provoke Muslims and will fan the flames of a new intifada [Palestinian uprising] and will intensify extremism and wrathful and violent behaviours for which this country [the U.S.] and the Zionist regime should be held responsible.’ SYRIA EFFECTIVELY at war with Israel ever since its establishment, the countries have fought three major wars. Its foreign ministry said the move was ‘the culmination of the crime of usurping Palestine and displacing the Palestinian people’. SAUDI ARABIA NOMINALLY a Western ally — despite sponsoring extreme fundamentalist Islam — the country is seen as a crucial power broker in the Middle East.

An Arab nation with some influence in Israel, Saudi King Salman warned Mr Trump by telephone that declaring Jerusalem Israel’s capital ‘ would constitute a flagrant provocation to all Muslims, all over the world’ and ‘would

harm the peace negotiation process and escalate tension in the region’.

TURKEY

PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a champion of the Palestinian cause. He told Trump before he made the move: ‘Such a step will only play into the hands of terror groups. Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims. We implore the U.S. once again: You cannot take this step.’

JORDAN

JORDAN enjoys a close working relationship with its next-door neighbour Israel and is a long-term Western ally.

The country’s King Abdullah II backed the warnings from Turkey and advised President Trump such a decision would have ‘ dangerous repercussions on the stability and security of the region’. He added: ‘There is no alternative to a two-state solution.’

EGYPT

EGYPT forged peace with its neighbour Israel in 1 7 . The Egyptian foreign ministry said: ‘Egypt rejects the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem.’ President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi warned Trump against ‘complicating the situation in the region by introducing measures that would undermine chances for peace’.

LEBANON

ISRAEL and Lebanon were at war as recently as 2006. President Michel Aoun said Trump’s move was dangerous and threatened the credibility of the U.S. He said the decision had put back the peace process by decades, and had threatened regional and perhaps global stability.