Israel approves new permanent US embassy site in West Jerusalem
December 10, 2019
Israel approved on Tuesday the construction of a permanent US embassy in West Jerusalem, Israeli media reported.
Moshe Leon, the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, said that US officials had received a green light to construct their embassy in the Allenby Complex, near the Hebron Road in the neighbourhood of Talpiot.
The area falls within West Jerusalem and Israel's 1948 borders, and offers a magnificent panorama of the Old City and the surrounding hills.
Leon said in a statement that “within six months, we will start building the premises and God willing in few years we will be able to inaugurate the permanent building of United States embassy in the capital."
Though Israeli officials have been eager to see Washington's diplomatic presence in the city entrenched, US officials were angered last week over “elements in a transport master plan” that could compromise the embassy's security, Israeli news site
Mako reported.
After meetings between US officials, the Jerusalem municipality and the Israeli ministry of transport, however, a decision was made to change the route of the city’s light rail and cut one of the planned rail stations that clashed with embassy’s security requirements.
The US embassy in Jerusalem is highly controversial.
Occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move that remains unrecognised by the international community, Jerusalem's status has historically been left to negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
However, in December 2017, US President Donald Trump unilaterally recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, subsequently moving the embassy from Tel Aviv in May 2018.
Palestinian leaders want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future Palestinian state, and view the US embassy move as evidence Washington supports Israel's de facto annexation of the city.
The current US embassy is in a building in the Arnona neighbourhood, used in the past as a visa consulate. The area lies on the border between East and West Jerusalem, and was largely off limits until Israel seized the entire city.
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