Trump Will Skip Jerusalem Embassy Opening
Image by Getty Images
President Donald Trump will not travel to Israel for the controversial opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, according to a White House statement released on Monday.
Instead, the U.S. delegation to the May 14 event will include U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, as well as Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and daughter Ivanka Trump, who work as advisers to the president in the White House.
U.S. Embassy road signs went up in Jerusalem on Monday before next week’s opening of the mission in accordance with President Donald Trump’s recognition of the city as Israel’s capital.
Trump says he is making good on U.S. legislation and presidential pledges dating back decades. Other world powers have not done so, sidestepping one of the thorniest disputes between Israel and the Palestinians, who want their own state with East Jerusalem as the capital.
Workmen installed the black-and-white signs, in English, Hebrew and Arabic, along roads leading to a U.S. consulate building in south Jerusalem that will be remodeled as the embassy when it is formally relocated from Tel Aviv on May 14.
“This is not a dream. It is reality. I am proud and moved to have hung this morning the first new signs that were prepared for the U.S. Embassy,” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat wrote on Twitter.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
