Steve Mnuchin Image by Getty Images

A few hours before the official ceremony opening the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on Monday, the Orthodox Union threw a breakfast at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel to celebrate the occasion, where U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin used his address to share excitement over his “big part” at the upcoming event event.

Mnuchin said he was looking forward to his role unveiling the plaque in the ceremony, which he referred to as “pulling a little cord,” according to Jewish Insider

“This is a day I will always remember,” he said. It’s a day seventy years in the making. It’s a day twenty years after Congress passed a law to move the embassy to Jerusalem… There is another reason to move the embassy. As some of you know, the President was a real-estate developer, and he wanted the American embassy real-estate on the right side of the town, here in Jerusalem.

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“I am personally waiting for my big part in the embassy this afternoon: I get to unveil the plaque, and I am told I do that by pulling a little cord,” he added. “The Ambassador asked, ‘Are you sure you know how to pull the cord?’ I said I’ve been doing this in Temple my whole life.”

Mnuchin also used the opportunity to call for increasing financial sanctions, which are overseen by the Treasury Department.

“I spend half my time monitoring the progress of sanctions. They work! We must stop of the flow of funds to terrorists and rogue regimes,” Mnuchin said.

The Orthodox Union brought together Israeli CEOs, U.S. and Israeli politicians, and Jewish leaders to show gratitude to President Trump and his administration for publicly recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Contact Alyssa Fisher at [email protected] or on Twitter, @alyssalfisher

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