In this file photo taken on March 9, 2016, then US Vice-President Joe Biden speaks in Jerusalem. Biden said on April 29, 2020, that he will keep the US embassy in Israel in Jerusalem, even though he disagrees with Donald Trump's controversial 2017 decision to move it out of Tel Aviv. Biden said the embassy should never have been moved without that decision being part of a wider Middle East peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. (DEBBIE HILL / VARIOUS SOURCES / AFP)

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Wednesday that he would keep the US embassy in Israel in Jerusalem if elected.

The former US vice president also said that he would reopen a US consulate in East Jerusalem

"The move shouldn't have happened in the context as it did. It should happen in the context of a larger deal to help us achieve important concessions for peace in the process. But now that is done, I would not move the embassy back to Tel Aviv," Biden said during a virtual fundraiser.

ALSO READ: Joe Biden wins Hillary Clinton's endorsement

The former vice-president also said that he would reopen a US consulate in East Jerusalem to engage the Palestinian leaders in talks about a "two-state solution," which has been a long-standing view of Washington regarding the Palestinian issue.

US media reported that Biden, then a senator of Delaware, voted for the passage of the Jerusalem Embassy Act in 1995, which authorized moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. However, the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations deferred the move.

READ MORE: Netanyahu 'confident' US will allow WEst Bank annexation

In December 2017, US President Donald Trump announced his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Washington moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in May 2018, drawing condemnation and opposition globally.