TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2020) Leading member the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) and former Defense Minister Peter MacKay on Tuesday pledged to move the Canadian Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem should he ever become prime minister.
� "It has always been my personal view that Jerusalem is the undisputed Capital of the State of Israel and that is where Canada's embassy should be and under my leadership, will be located," MacKay, a front-runner in the race for the CPC leadership, announced via Twitter on Tuesday.
The statement represents an abrupt about-face from hours earlier, when the prime ministerial hopeful told The Post Millennial that he would not commit to moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel - breaking with official CPC policy.
Ottawa's official policy is that Israel and Palestine must come to a mutually agreed two-state solution before Jerusalem's status is re-examined. Accordingly, Canada does not recognize Israel's unilateral annexation of East Jerusalem.
In December of 2017, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and subsequently moved the US Embassy to the city, which is regarded as holy by the three major Abrahamic religions - Christianity, Judaism and islam. The US move drew international condemnation.
In 2018, the CPC adopted the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the embassy relocation as part of its official platform.
Both Israel and Palestine see Jerusalem as their capital, and the status of the city has long been regarded as a matter that must be resolved through a Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
