The United States will officially move its embassy to Jerusalem on May 14, 2018, which falls out on the 70th anniversary of Israel’s declaration of independence. The report has been confirmed to according to Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post by high-ranking government officials.
Vice President Mike Pence told the Israeli Parliament last month that a new U.S. Embassy to Israel would open in Jerusalem before the end of 2019.
The embassy is expected to announce the plans for the move later this week and some are speculating that President Donald Trump will announce it in his address to AIPAC.
The Associated Press reported that President Donald Trump’s administration is considering an offer from billionaire Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson to pay for the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
Mort Klein, close friend of Adelson and president of the pro-Israel group ZOA (Zionist Organization of America) said that accepting donations would be ill-advised.
“This is a government project. It’s a government-run embassy, I don’t want people to be able to say it was Jewish money,” Klein said.
As far as the location of the new embassy, the U.S. is looking at several possible sites. The most likely plan involves opening the embassy in Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood at an existing U.S. facility that already handles consular affairs like passports and visas. The U.S. facility will initially accommodate ambassador David Friedman and his staff.
Trump’s announcement to move the embassy to Jerusalem, fulfills a campaign promise and ends decades of U.S. foreign policy leaving the embassy in Tel Aviv due to the contested Jerusalem.
