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Republicans call for ‘swift’ embassy move by Trump

Republicans in the US House of Representatives composed a letter calling for President-elect Trump to take ‘swift action’ in moving the US embassy to Jerusalem in light of the anti-Israel resolution passed by the UN Security Council. 

Republicans in the US House of Representatives have started circulating a letter calling for President-elect Donald Trump to take “swift action” in moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, according to a copy of the text obtained by the Jerusalem Post.

“Moving the embassy will strengthen the unique alliance between Israel and the United States and send a clear message to the world that we support Israel in recognizing Jerusalem as its eternal capital,” the letter reads.

The letter calls for “swift action” in light of the decision by the outgoing Obama Administration not to veto a UN Security Council resolution that condemned any Israeli presence in territories won by Israel from Jordan during the Six-Day War in 1967, including Jerusalem’s Old City.

“This action is all the more urgent in light of the anti-Israel Resolution 2334, adopted by the United Nations Security Council on December 23, 2016,” the letter adds. “The resolution invites renewed diplomatic hostility and economic warfare against Israel, and we must act urgently to mitigate its consequences and to reaffirm our steadfast commitment to Israel.”

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Several Republicans in the US Senate have already introduced the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act that would mandate the US president to immediately move the US embassy to Jerusalem. The current laws, represented by the Jerusalem Embassy and Relocation Act that was passed in 1995, also calls for moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, but allows for the US president to sign a waiver every six months, indefinitely postponing the relocation of the embassy.

Meanwhile, President-elect Trump’s transition team has informed a number of US allies that it intends to go forward with its plan to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, according to a CNN report on Tuesday.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News