“The Embassy Act called for Jerusalem to remain an undivided city and for it to be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel. The proposed law was adopted by the Senate (93–5) and the House (374–37).”
That’s right, 1995. The law to move the US embassy to Jerusalem is a public law of the United States passed by the 104th Congress on October 23, 1995. It was passed to initiate funding for the relocation of the embassy of the United States in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999.
President Clinton, who was in office when the bill was passed, took the unusual step of not signing the Embassy Act into law once Congress presented it to him. He showed his disapproval not by vetoing the bill but by letting ten days of inaction pass. The procedure allowed the bill to automatically become law by constitutional “default.” Then President Clinton, not wanting to face the potential public fallout from taking a “negative stand” on what appeared to be favorable, veto-proof legislation on the surface, at the time simply stayed mute.
The Embassy Act called for Jerusalem to remain an undivided city and for it to be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel. Israel’s declared capital is Jerusalem. The proposed law was adopted by the Senate (93–5) and the House (374–37).
I would be willing to bet many of those in the US that see this decision as ‘the end of the world’ do not even know the law was passed during the Clinton administration.
Despite passage, the law remained unimplemented by presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama. They consistently claimed the presidential waiver on national security interests.
President Donald Trump signed the waiver in June 2017 before announcing the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on December 6, 2017 and beginning the relocation of the embassy.
From 1998 to June 2017, the relocation of the embassy from Tel Aviv was suspended by the sitting president semi-annually, based on national security concerns as provided for in section 7 of the act.
Sec. 7. Presidential Waiver.
(a) Waiver Authority.
(1) Beginning on October 1, 1998, the President may suspend the limitations set forth in section 3(b) for a period of six months if he determines and reports to Congress in advance that such suspension is necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States.
(2) The President may suspend such limitations for an additional six-month period at the end of any period during which the suspension is in effect under this subsection if the President determines and reports to Congress in advance of the additional suspension that the additional suspension is necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States.
(3) A report under paragraph (1) or (2) shall include—
(A) a statement of the interests affected by the limitation that the President seeks to suspend; and
(B) a discussion of the manner in which the limitation affects the interests.
(b) Applicability of Waiver to Availability of Funds.
If the President exercises the authority outlined in subsection (a) in a fiscal year for the purpose outlined in such section 3(b) except to the extent that the limitation is suspended in such following fiscal year because of the exercise of the authority in subsection (a).
So why all the wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth? President Trump is simply implementing a law that was passed over 20 years ago.
Since this provision went into effect in late 1998, every president serving in office during this period has determined moving forward with the relocation would be detrimental to US national security concerns and opted to issue waivers suspending any action associated with moving the embassy.
By law, a re-assessment must take place every six months. In response, members of Congress have begun to include language to do away with the president’s exclusivity in making the determinations or flat-out remove the waiver provision from the Embassy Act altogether.
So why all the wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth? President Trump is simply implementing a law that was passed over 20 years ago.
I would be willing to bet many of those in the US that see this decision as “the end of the world” do not even know the law was passed during the Clinton administration. The news media is not reporting this fact. It seems the 20-somethings and naysayers who were not even born when this act was passed have no idea about what they are so upset about. But then we all know they tend to rewrite history to meet their point of view—or more often, simply ignore it.
Look at who is against the move of the embassy. This is not an exhaustive list, but you should get the idea. In my opinion, if these groups are against the move, then President Trump is doing the right thing.
Turkey is currently the president of the 57-member organization that includes Muslim countries on four continents, and Erdogan is scheduled to address both the opening and closing sessions of Wednesday’s summit, taking advantage of the gathering to cast himself in the role of the Muslim defender of Jerusalem.
The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp, Brigadier General Qassem Soleimani, said his nation is ready to support Palestinian forces in the Gaza Strip. He stated he would unleash anti-Israel and anti-US violence uniformly around the world.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said at a large demonstration in Beruit that the terror group was finishing fighting in Syria and would turn its attention to fighting Israel.
The Palestinian terror group Hamas has called for intensifying violence against Israel in response to the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and has allowed thousands of Gazans to confront Israeli troops at the Gaza border fence in recent days.
Nasrallah also urged the Palestinian Authority to sever diplomatic ties with allies of Israel and called on Jordan and Egypt to repeal their peace treaties with the Jewish state.
“We must put pressure on the Arab and Islamic states to repeal peace treaties and other deals with Israel,” Nasrallah said. “I call on Palestinians to kick out any delegation that aims to visit them from countries that have normalized relations with Israel, no matter what the background of those delegations is.”
Trump’s decision to move the embassy was noted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by leaders across much of the Israeli political spectrum. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.
