Pictured Above: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (left) and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin meet on Tuesday. Credit: Mark Neiman/GPO.

(January 23, 2018 / Jerusalem / JNS) Vice President Mike Pence reiterated Tuesday the Trump administration’s stance that U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will lead to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

“President Trump truly believes that the decision the United States has made to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, we believe, will set the table for the opportunity to move forward in meaningful negotiations to achieve a lasting peace and end the decades-long conflict,” said Pence during a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.

“Inshallah,” Rivlin replied, using the Arabic expression for “with God’s help.”

Pence’s statement came a day after he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital because he is “convinced” that it will lead to “good faith negotiations.” During his address Monday to the Israeli parliament, Pence declared that the U.S. would move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem “before the end of next year.”

In his meeting with Rivlin, Pence also lauded the strong security cooperation between Israel and the U.S., stating that America stands “shoulder-to-shoulder” with the Jewish state in the war against radical Islamic terrorism and “the threat of the leading state sponsor of terror, Iran.”

“President Trump’s recent decision to announce that the waiver he will sign on sanctions under the Iran nuclear deal would be the last one,” said Pence. “The time has come for changes in the Iran nuclear deal.”

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