US President Donald Trump (AP/Evan Vucci)
Trump has reportedly decided not to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, breaking his pre-election promise to his voters. Israel denies the report.
Israel is denying a report that President Donald Trump has decided not to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and will sign the presidential waiver postponing the highly anticipated move.
In 1995, Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy and Relocation Act, which recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and committed to moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999. To date, each American president since Bill Clinton has signed a presidential waiver every six months, citing concerns that a move to Jerusalem could hinder the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The waiver was last signed by President Barack Obama in October, and Israel’s NRG news reported Wednesday that Trump will also sign it at the end of the month.
NRG reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been updated on the move. The Prime Minister’s Office, however, denied the report.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office has not received any notice about a decision by the US government to move or not to move the US Embassy,” the PMO stated. “Israel’s stance is that all the embassies belong in Israel’s capital of Jerusalem, and the US Embassy should be one of the first to move.”
While on the campaign trail and after his election victory, Trump repeatedly stated his intention to move the embassy. On the Thursday before his inauguration, he told the Israel Hayom daily that he was not a person who breaks promises, including this particular commitment.
“Of course I remember what I said about Jerusalem,” Trump said at the time. “You know that I am not a person who breaks promises.”
In January, US Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dean Heller (R-NV) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) reintroduced the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act, legislation that would fulfill America’s commitment to Israel to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. As opposed to the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy and Relocation Act, this new bill, if passed, would remove the president’s waiver authority.
By: Adina Katz, World Israel News
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