Trump Signs Waiver Keeping US Embassy in Tel Aviv

President Donald Trump has signed a waiver keeping the US Embassy in Israel in Tel Aviv instead of moving it to Jerusalem

Washington, 7 Ramadan 1438/2 June 2017 (MINA) – President Donald Trump has signed a waiver keeping the US Embassy in Israel in Tel Aviv instead of moving it to Jerusalem, but such a controversial move eventually will happen, KUNA reported, citing the announcement of the White House on Thursday.

While Trump signed the waiver under the Jerusalem Embassy Act and delayed moving the embassy, “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 announcement said.

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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,” the statement said

“But, as he has repeatedly stated his intention to move the embassy, the question is not if that move happens, but only when.”

Trump promised during the 2016 presidential campaign that he would move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an action the Israeli government has long advocated, but one which would inflame the Arab world.

“We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem,” he said in a March 2016 speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

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Signing the waiver forestalls any such move for another six months. Every US president has signed such a waiver twice a year after a law was passed in 1995 mandating the relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)