Thursday morning, the White House announced that President Donald Trump was going to break a campaign promise—for now—in the hope that it reaps a greater reward in the long run.
The president issued a memo to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in which he executed a six-month presidential waiver on the Jerusalem Embassy Act, and 1995 law that requires the U.S. Embassy to be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and declare Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The waiver memo states:
Pursuant to the authority vested in me as president by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 7(a) of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-45) (the “Act”), I hereby determine that it is necessary, in order to protect the national security interests of the United States, to suspend for a period of 6 months the limitations set forth in sections 3(b) and 7(b) of the Act.
You are authorized and directed to transmit this determination, accompanied by a report in accordance with section 7(a) of the Act, to the Congress and to publish this determination in the Federal Register.
The suspension set forth in this determination shall take effect after you transmit this determination and the required accompanying report to the Congress.
The White House also issued the following statement about the president’s decision:
While President Donald J. Trump signed the waiver under the Jerusalem Embassy Act and delayed moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, no one should consider this step to be in any way a retreat from the president’s strong support for Israel and for the United States-Israel alliance.
“President Trump made this decision to maximize the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, fulfilling his solemn obligation to defend America’s national security interests. But, as he has repeatedly stated his intention to move the embassy, the question is not if that move happens, but only when.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was disappointed in the decision:
Though Israel is disappointed that the embassy will not move at this time, we appreciate today’s expression of President Trump’s friendship to Israel and his commitment to moving the embassy in the future.
Christians United for Israel, one of the leading evangelical activist groups urging the president to follow through on his commitment has not yet responded to the development. {eoa}
