US allies among Arab states urging Donald Trump to reconsider Jerusalem move

Twenty-two Arab states including close US allies have urged Donald Trump to reconsider a "dangerous" decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The Arab League warned the move "deepens tension, ignites anger and threatens to plunge region into more violence and chaos," in a strongly critical statement issued following an emergency meeting attended by the foreign ministers of each member nation.

The White House announcement about Jerusalem this week overturned decades of US neutrality on one of the Middle East's most sensitive issues, sparking violence in Gaza and protests elsewhere in the region.

The US President's endorsement of Israel's claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital reverses Washington's stance that the city's status must be decided in negotiations with the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

The Arab League statement described the decision as a "dangerous violation of international law" which had no legal impact and was "void". It said it would seek a United Nations Security Council resolution rejecting the US move.

"The decision has no legal effect... it deepens tension, ignites anger and threatens to plunge region into more violence and chaos," the statement, issued at 3am local time after hours of meetings that began on Saturday evening in Cairo.

Lebanon's foreign minister Gebran Bassil suggested Arab nations should also consider imposing economic sanctions against the United States to prevent it moving its Israel embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

"Pre-emptive measures [must be] taken ... beginning with diplomatic measures, then political, then economic and financial sanctions," he said.

But the Arab League statement made no mention of economic sanctions and included no other punitive actions against the US, such as a boycott of American products or downgrading of ties with Washington.

Arab criticism of Mr Trump's plan contrasted sharply with the praise Washington's traditional Arab allies heaped on him at the beginning of his administration in January.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have each issued individual statements criticising the Jerusalem decision.

"This step represents a big bias against the historic rights of the Palestinians and a big regression in the efforts to push the peace process forward," said the Saudi royal court in a statement to Al Jazeera. "It is a violation of the American neutral position towards Jerusalem.”

A Jordanian government spokesman, Muhammad al-Momani, said the US move was “false and illegal because it consolidates the occupation”.

About 10,000 people rallied on Sunday outside the US Embassy in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta to denounce Mr Trump's announcement. Demonstrators carried banners reading "US Embassy, Gets Out from Al Quds", "Free Jerusalem and Palestinians" and "We are with the Palestinians".

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has strongly condemned the US announcement, which he described as a violation of UN resolutions.

Meanwhile, Israel's defence minister called for a boycott of Arab businesses in an area where there riots following the Jerusalem decision.

Avigdor Lieberman said the Arabs of Wadi Ara, in northern Israel were "not part of us" and Jewish Israelis should no longer visit their villages and buy their products.

He spoke to Army Radio after hundreds of Israeli Arabs protested on Saturday along a major road, with dozens of masked rioters hurling stones at bus and police vehicles. Three Israeli people were wounded and several vehicles damaged.

The protests were part of a Palestinian "day of rage" following Mr Trump's announcement.

Israeli air strikes killed two Palestinian gunmen on Saturday after militants fired rockets from Gaza into Israel on Friday.