Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during the tenth Democratic 2020 presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S., February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

2020 candidates debate reversing relocation of U.S. embassy in Israel

Politics

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says he would study the issue of relocating the American Embassy in Israel to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem but wouldn't commit to commanding the change.

The Vermont senator said during Tuesday night's debate in Charleston, South Carolina, that he is "very proud of being Jewish" but also pressed that "you cannot ignore the suffering of the Palestinian people."

In 2018, the Trump administration reversed decades of U.S. foreign policy by siding more blatantly with Israel, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the American Embassy there. President Donald Trump also closed Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and cut funding to Palestinian aid programs.

The other Jewish candidate onstage, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, said, "You can't move the embassy back." Instead, he said, "The answer is to obviously split it up."

Capping off the issue, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said moving the embassy is not a decision for the U.S. to make, adding, "We should let the parties determine the capitals themselves."

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2020 candidates debate reversing relocation of U.S. embassy in Israel first appeared on the PBS News website.

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