PRESIDENT Juan Carlos Varela, has joined other heads of state in criticizing   President Donald Trump’s unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

On Friday, December 9 he called for consensus, both from the parties in conflict and from the international community, around Jerusalem.

"Any diplomatic step on such a sensitive issue, without being part of a consensus with the international community and with the parties in conflict, does not contribute anything to social peace or peace in the world," said the Panamanian president said Friday. in statements on TVN Noticias.

"In any case,"  he added, "Panama in all these conflicts always aspires to be part of the solution and not aggravate" the problem.

President Donald Trump on Thursday broke the international consensus on Jerusalem by recognizing it as the capital of Israel and ordering the US embassy to relocate there, a position that triggered tension in the region.

That same day the president of the UN General Assembly Miroslav Lajcak, affirmed that the status of Jerusalem should be negotiated between Israel and Palestine as part of a complete agreement between both parties, and acknowledged that the unilateral decision of the United States has generated "concern" in many world leaders.

The United States criticized the United Nations on Friday for the "hostility against Israel" it has maintained for "many years" and defended the decision to accept "the obvious" by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

After the Israeli annexation of the eastern part of Jerusalem, in 1980, the UN called on the international community to withdraw its legations from the Holy City.

The Palestinians claim the eastern part of the city (East Jerusalem) as the capital of their future independent State, and they have given great importance to the future of the city in the peace negotiations of the last decades.