Brussels, 7 December 2017 (ITUC OnLine): US President's Donald Trump's announcement that the US will recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is a divisive and reckless act which seriously undermines the quest for peace between Israel and Palestine.

"The only acceptable basis for resolution of the conflict and ending the Israeli occupation is the two-state solution, and it is widely understood in the international community that the status of Jerusalem should be defined as part of the process of negotiation. President Trump's announcement, pre-emptively and unilaterally defining that status, is not only an affront to Palestinians, especially those living in Jerusalem and facing encroachment of settlements onto their land; it also causes real damage to the prospects for peaceful negotiations to bring about peace and the establishment of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders and in line with UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338," said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.