Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
As the presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised to relocate the US Embassy to Jerusalem – a common Republican pledge during elections – and now Israelis want him to live up to it.
Jerusalem’s Mayor Nir Barkat on Wednesday congratulated President-Elect Donald Trump hours after his victory and called on him to fulfill a pledge he made during his campaign and move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Israel’s capital.
In the missive Barkat posted on social media, he stressed the importance of the US as a close ally to the State of Israel and the Jewish People.
“You have been a dedicated friend to the city of Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Israel and the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and for that I thank you.”
”I am confident that you will continue to empower our city by reaffirming its sovereignty and moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem,” Barkat wrote.
He added that he was looking forward to Trump’s support of Jerusalem’s development, and invited him to visit the city.
“Together we will ensure a successful and vibrant future for Jerusalem and the United States,” he concluded.
During a meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York in September, Trump “acknowledged that Jerusalem has been the eternal capital of the Jewish People for over 3000 years, and that the US, under a Trump administration, will finally accept the long-standing Congressional mandate to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the State of Israel.”
During a January appearance on The Brody File, a Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) show, the interviewer mentioned that Republican candidates Ted Cruz and Marc Rubio supported the move, to which Trump responded, “I am for that one hundred percent.”
In 1995, the US passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act, with overwhelming support in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, mandating the embassy’s relocation to Jerusalem by the fiscal year 1999, but allowing for a presidential waiver. All presidents since then have so far acted on their right to waiver the law.
By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News
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