Israel will 'pay price' for US embassy move, warns defence minister

Israel will "pay a price" for the upcoming US move of its Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the Israeli defence minister has said.

Avigdor Lieberman made the warning on Saturday on Israeli television, local daily Haaretz reported.

"Nothing comes for free... and the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem will come at a price and it is worth paying it. We should be prepared to pay a price," Lieberman said, without providing further details.

The US has pushed ahead with plans to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem on May 14.

The move has deeply angered the Palestinians, who see the Israeli-annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

It has sparked major protests by Palestinians and led Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to cut off ties with the Trump administration.

US President Donald Trump said last week that he might attend the opening ceremony of the new US embassy.

But many countries are not expected to follow the US' lead.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said his country would not relocate its embassy to Jerusalem.

Israel seized Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, in moves never recognised by the international community.