Pence: Trump Deciding ‘When And How’ To Move Embassy To Jerusalem
Mike Pence Image by Getty Images
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Trump continues to consider “when and how” to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, Vice President Mike Pence said.
“President Donald Trump is actively considering when and how to move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” Pence said Tuesday at an event in New York organized by the Israeli mission to the United Nations marking the 70th anniversary of the U.N. General Assembly vote to recognize Israel.
Pence’s pledge comes days before the Dec. 1 deadline for Trump to decide whether to waive a 1995 law mandating moving the embassy to Jerusalem. Every president since the law was passed, including Trump, has exercised the national security waiver, an action that must be taken every six months.
Trump campaigned on a promise to move the embassy, but has walked back from the pledge as president. A number of other presidents similarly campaigned on a promise to move the embassy but reneged in office.
Pence drew implicit contrasts with the Obama administration, which had tense relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and in its final days allowed through a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement policies.
“With the leadership of our president and the efforts of our ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, the days of Israel bashing at the United Nations are over,” he said.
Pence also said there was “valuable progress” in efforts led by Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace.
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