Senate votes overwhelmingly to keep US embassy in Jerusalem

Senate votes 97-3 to approve. Senator Inhofe: “It’s an important message that we acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”

By World Israel News Staff

In a landslide vote Thursday, the Senate approved a budget resolution amendment making the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem permanent, so that it could not be moved out of Israel’s capital in the future.

“Pleased the Senate overwhelmingly passed the amendment SenatorHagerty and I introduced to make sure the U.S. Embassy to Israel remains located in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel,” tweeted the bill’s co-sponsor, Republican Senator Jim Infofe of Oklahoma.

“I am proud to introduce legislation to protect the U.S. Embassy from relocation or being downgraded,” Inhofe said “It was an honor to see the U.S. Embassy moved to its rightful location in Jerusalem in 2018 after over 20 years of bipartisan effort and Sen. Hagerty and I are clear in our efforts to ensure it stays there. Israel is a true friend to the United States and I look forward to many more years of friendship.”

The bi-partisan amendment was approved 97-3, with the only objectors being Democratic Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Tom Carper. During the election campaign Warren said that “if Israel takes steps counter to peace, I am prepared to freeze or reverse the limited embassy functions that have moved to Jerusalem,” and Sanders said he would “take into consideration” moving the embassy back to Tel Aviv.

“The Trump Administration kept its promise to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish State of Israel, and it should remain there,” said Hagerty. “As former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, I know how important it is to recognize the core concerns of our allies, and it was a travesty that our government ignored U.S. law and declined to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital for so many decades.”

The Trump administration’s decision to move the embassy and recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital sparked wild predictions that violence would erupt across the region and set the quest for peace back by years.

However, not only did the embassy move shatter the myth that it would cause major conflict, but two years later, Israel signed peace treaties with five Muslim countries.