Diplomacy · Jerusalem
US signs deal to build permanent embassy in Jerusalem, solidifying Trump recognition
The United States signed an agreement on Wednesday to erect a permanent embassy compound in Jerusalem, a step Israel hailed as proof of the 'unbreakable alliance' between the two countries.
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In brief
US Ambassador Mike Huckabee and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar formalized the deal for a permanent embassy compound.
Huckabee, an evangelical pastor, said the embassy fulfills 'a divine will' and called Jerusalem the 'eternal capital of the Jewish people.'
The Israeli human rights group Adalah says the Allenby site was confiscated from Palestinians under a 1950 law they deem discriminatory.
The announcement came amid indirect US-Iran talks in Doha and reported tensions between Trump and Netanyahu over the Iran war's conclusion.
A long-promised project
The US has operated from temporary diplomatic premises in Jerusalem since President Trump ordered the embassy's relocation from Tel Aviv during his first term. On Wednesday, that interim arrangement took a step toward permanence. Ambassador Mike Huckabee and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar signed an accord to erect a new embassy compound on the Allenby site in southern Jerusalem, consolidating services previously scattered across the city.
“The United States does not only recognize Jerusalem as the eternal, ancestral and forever capital of the Jewish people, but also says: we are going to act on this question.”
“President Trump's historic decision in 2017 to move the embassy to Jerusalem put things right.”
Divine mandate and political currents
Huckabee, an evangelical pastor, framed the project in theological terms. At the signing ceremony at Israel's foreign ministry, he declared that God had made the decision 3,800 years ago and the US was merely catching up. He also stressed Israel's strategic importance to American interests in the region. Trump, speaking from Washington, described the parallel Doha negotiations with Iran as "very good", even as Israeli officials viewed those talks with skepticism.
Legal and humanitarian criticism
The Israeli rights organization Adalah immediately condemned the move, asserting that the Allenby compound sits on land confiscated from Palestinians under the 1950 Absentee Property Law, which the group calls discriminatory. Adalah had previously filed legal objections to the site's use, arguing it perpetuates historic injustice.
“The embassy construction deliberately entrenches a profound historical injustice.”
Geopolitical friction points
The embassy deal lands at a moment of diplomatic strain. While the US engages in indirect talks with Iran in Doha aimed at cementing June's ceasefire, Israel remains wary of the process. Additionally, media reports have pointed to friction between Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the management of the joint military campaign against Iran launched on February 28. The embassy signing thus serves as a reaffirmation of the alliance even as the two allies navigate diverging priorities.
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Sources and context
- Mike Huckabee
- United States Ambassador to Israel
- Gideon Sa’ar
- Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Donald Trump
- President of the United States
- Benjamin Netanyahu
- Prime Minister of Israel
- Places
- Jerusalem, United States, Tel Aviv
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