Jerusalem will be Israel's 'undivided' capital

Republican candidate Donald Trump yesterday pledged in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided" capital if he is elected president.

Netanyahu met privately with Trump at his residence in Trump Tower a day before the New York billionaire faces off against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for their first presidential debate.

"Trump acknowledged that Jerusalem has been the eternal capital of the Jewish people for over 3000 years, and that the United States, under a Trump administration, will finally accept the long-standing congressional mandate to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the state of Israel," his campaign said in a statement.

Israel captured the Arab eastern half of Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and annexed it in 1980, declaring all of Jerusalem Israel's unified capital.

The United States -- and most other UN member countries -- do not recognise the annexation and consider Jerusalem's final status to be a key issue to be resolved in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

The US Congress passed a law in October 1995 calling for an undivided Jerusalem to be recognized as Israel's capital and to authorize funding for moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

But no US president -- Democrat or Republican -- has implemented the law, regarding it as an infringement on the executive branch's authority over foreign policy.

Pressure mounted on Democrat Hillary Clinton and Trump yesterday as they head into their first presidential debate with a new poll showing them in a dead heat.

As many as 90 million people are expected to tune in when Trump and Clinton face off at Hofstra University in New York just six weeks before the November 8 election.

Many analysts say debates usually don't win a candidate the election but can well lose it for them. A single sentence, or the slightest slip, can do serious damage.

Clinton, 68, enters the fray with no cushion. A Washington Post-ABC News poll published Sunday found that her slim advantage from last month has now evaporated.

She is tied with Trump at 41 percent among registered voters, with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson at seven percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at two percent, according to the poll.

In a two-way match-up, Trump and Clinton were even at 46 percent of registered voters. The survey showed a statistical tie among likely voters as well.