No Decision for US to Move Israeli Embassy to Jerusalem

Officials Say Moving Embassy Not a Priority

Not only was Israel’s Channel 2’s weekend report that President Trump would announce the relocation of the US embassy on Monday false, but signs out of the White House suggest nothing’s going to be happening at all any time soon, raising doubts over whether it will happen at all.

In their first daily press briefing, the White House reiterated that they are in the “very early stages” of even making a decision on moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and that no firm decision has been made to do so yet. Only last week, Trump’s spokesmen were saying such an announcement would be made “soon.”

Other reports, citing unnamed administration officials, suggest a decision may be deferred more or less indefinitely, with the administration wanting to take a shot at negotiating a peace deal, and recognizing that the embassy move would be a major blow to such an effort.

This may ultimately leave Trump’s embassy policy resembling President George W. Bush, who had similarly talked up the idea, and annually insisted in official waivers of the Jerusalem Embassy Act that he intended to at least “begin” the process, but ultimately leaving eight years later without having done anything.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.