Marc Zell
Marc ZellEliran Aharon

Marc Zell, the co-chair of Republicans Overseas in Israel, on Wednesday said there was no truth to the reports that President Donald Trump had decided that the United States Embassy in Israel would remain in Tel Aviv.

"According to my sources, there is no change in the President's policy regarding the moving of the Embassy to Jerusalem, and according to what I know, there is no intention of extending the waiver ordering that the Embassy remain in Tel Aviv," Zell told Arutz Sheva, adding that the Embassy move would happen in a quiet manner.

"I have said more than once in the media that in order for the Embassy to move to Jerusalem, the President simply does not have to do anything. If he does not do anything, then according to the law, the Embassy must move to Jerusalem. I understand that this is the plan and I think it's wise to do it without declarations or ceremonies. Let the American law do the job,” he said, adding that he believes Ambassador David Friedman, who is currently working out of Tel Aviv, will live in and work from Jerusalem.

"The Ambassador is due to arrive here in five days, and I intend to meet him and he will tell us what he intends to do," said Zell.

His remarks came following reports in Israeli media that Trump has already decided to extend the order which prevents the Embassy in Israel from being moved to Jerusalem.

A U.S. source told the Hebrew-language 360 news website that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has already been informed of Trump's decision.

In the interview, Zell also estimated that Trump, during his upcoming visit to Israel, will not try to impose on Israel any peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

"I want people to understand that the Palestinian issue is not the central issue. I do not say that it is not important, but it is not central. The administration's current focus when it comes to the Middle East is how to deal with the Iranian threat. This requires cooperation between Israel and the Sunni states in the region, and the President is really focused on this,” explained Zell.

"The President is talking about a deal. He loves to make deals, he is strong in making deals. We may see something, but in my opinion we will not see a deal that will bring about a final solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but rather a positive step to make the parties manage the relationship between them in a constructive way. I do not see a solution to the conflict on the horizon."

Zell also discussed Trump’s dismissal of FBI Director James Comey, saying, "I think there was an intention to fire him for a long time, but the dismissal was delayed because of the investigation he conducted on Trump’s connection to Russia during the election campaign.”

"After Obama’s former intelligence director already said in his congressional testimony that he has no evidence of such cooperation or connections, and the deputy attorney general in the Obama administration said the same, the President thought it was time to fire this man who had already exceeded of all the restrictions on his job and bring in someone who will run the FBI properly. There is no fear that replacing the FBI Director now will harm the investigation, because the world's eyes are on this investigation," Zell added.