President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a waiver postponing for six months any plan to relocate the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move mandated by U.S. law.
“While President Donald J. Trump signed the waiver under the Jerusalem Embassy Act and delayed moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, no one should consider this step to be in any way a retreat from the President’s strong support for Israel and for the United States-Israel alliance,” the White House said in a statement.
“President Trump made this decision to maximize the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, fulfilling his solemn obligation to defend America’s national security interests. But, as he has repeatedly stated his intention to move the embassy, the question is not if that move happens, but only when.”
U.S. law has required the relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem since the Clinton era. In 1995, Congress passed legislation, with overwhelming bipartisan majorities in both houses, requiring that the American embassy be moved to Jerusalem by May 31, 1999. However, the president has the authority to waive the order for six-month periods. While Bill Clinton and George W. Bush promised to relocate the embassy during their presidential campaigns, they both signed waivers delaying the move after their election, as did former President Barack Obama. The most recent waiver expired on June 1.
Israel declared Jerusalem as its capital in 1949, shortly after its independence. Its legislature, Supreme Court, and executive government offices are all located there, as are the president’s and prime minister’s official residences.
“Israel’s consistent position is that the American embassy, like the embassies of all countries with whom we have diplomatic relations, should be in Jerusalem, our eternal capital,” the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement following the waiver’s signing.
“Though Israel is disappointed that the embassy will not move at this time, we appreciate today’s expression of President Trump’s friendship to Israel and his commitment to moving the embassy in the future.”
In Move the Embassy—for America’s Sake, which was published in the February 2017 issue of The Tower Magazine, Aaron Menenberg argued that by “using the Jerusalem Embassy Act to move the American embassy to Jerusalem and recognize Israeli sovereignty over the city, America would be making a profound statement that it recognizes the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and believes, based on all the evidence of history, that the world is a better place when the liberal values embraced by Israel govern the city. Such a move would restore America’s credibility as a moral leader and signal that it is not interested in cowing to illiberal falsehoods. Put another way, the decision to move America’s embassy to Jerusalem and recognize Israeli sovereignty would be the decision of a great and reasonable country seeking a better world for all.”
[Photo: Krokodyl / Wikimedia]