Despite his campaign promise, President Donald Trump ruled out moving the American embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for the moment at least--drawing the fire from a Florida Republican.
The White House released a statement on Thursday on the matter.
“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,” the statement said. “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.”
This drew a response from U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who called it “deeply disappointing” on Thursday.
“Fifty years ago, the liberation of Jerusalem during the Six Day War reunited the Jewish people with their historic capital city,” DeSantis, the chair of the House National Security Subcommittee, said. “Israel's stewardship of Jerusalem has been tremendous and has included guaranteeing religious freedom for Christians and Muslims as well as Jews -- something that was nonexistent during the city's Arab occupation. Yet, Israel is the only nation in the world where an American embassy is not located in its chosen capital city. It is long past time that we rectify this error and locate our embassy in Jerusalem and it is deeply disappointing that the president has decided not to do so."
At the start of the year, DeSantis gathered up more than 100 members of Congress to send a letter to Trump, urging him to move the embassy. DeSantis’ effort won the support of some of the members of the Florida delegation including U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., who chairs the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee. Other members of the Florida delegation who signed the letter were Republican U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis, Carlos Curbelo, Brian Mast and Ted Yoho.
“Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people and the U.S. should maintain its embassy in Israel’s capital city,” DeSantis said in January. “For decades, the State Department has indulged the conceit that Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel, even though the Jewish presence in Jerusalem goes back thousands of years. I encourage President Trump to send a message to the world that the United States stands with our friends in Israel by relocating our embassy to Jerusalem.”
Since then, DeSantis has continued to push the Trump administration on the matter.
