美国有线新闻 CNN 特朗普欲承认耶路撒冷为以色列首都并搬迁大使馆（在线收听）

The Trump administration is considering a declaration that's significant around the world, whether to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

And if the U.S. government does that, it could later move the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, to the city of Jerusalem.

Here's why that significant. In 1980, Israel passed a law declaring Jerusalem to be its capital. It had seen the city as that for decades.

But the United Nations said that declaration was against international law because it s?aw Jerusalem as an international city. Its population of around 850,000 people isn't particularly large as cities go. But Jerusalem's importance to the world's three major Abrahamic religions ?Judaism, Christianity and Islam 梚s tremendous.

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At one level, it's a city like any other. People sell, people buy, normal life. But Jerusalem's old city is special. And this is the best vantage point, here on the Mount of Olives.

The Dome of the Rock, a key holy site for Muslims. Behind it, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on the site where many Christians believe Christ was crucified.

And out of sight from this vantage point, the Western Wall, holy to Jews supporting the mount where the temple once stood. It's not Jerusalem's significance, that's in dispute. It's a status.

After nearly 20 years divided by barbed wire, Israel forces took control of the whole city, east and west. In 1967, the international community did not recognize what Israel called the unification of Jerusalem, embassies stayed in Tel Aviv. And East Jerusalem was accepted by the international community as the capital of a future Palestinian state in a negotiated settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.

AZUZ: The United States has always had its embassy in Tel Aviv, a city about 30 miles northwest of Jerusalem. In 1995, the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring America to move its embassy to Jerusalem.

International supporters of that who include the Israel government say that the U.S. should recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and have its embassy there to show it. International opponents who include Palestinians in the region say if the U.S. moves its embassy to the Jerusalem, it will be a major setback to hopes for peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

Despite the U.S. law passed in 1995, former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama had used something called a presidential waiver to avoid moving the American embassy. They've said it's necessary to keep the American embassy in Tel Aviv to protect U.S. national security.

If President Donald Trump decides to move the embassy to Jerusalem, it's not likely to happen immediately. He's expected to keep the embassy in Tel Aviv for another six months and possibly move it after that.