‘Making Israel great’: security tight as Trump’s transfer of US embassy to Jerusalem begins
US president’s unpopular decision to name the scared city Israel’s capital was met with widespread protests and Palestinians are threatening to breach the border en masse
For all the fanfare the Trump administration has planned – and contrary to President Donald Trump’s boasts – the new US embassy to be opened in Jerusalem on Monday will be a decidedly modest affair, and probably a temporary one.
Staff will only number about 50 or 60, compared with 800 at the compound in Tel Aviv where the embassy has been for years – until Trump threw out decades of international consensus to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Previous American policy called for the status of Jerusalem, which is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians, to be decided by a peace agreement between them.
The US ambassador, David Friedman, said on Friday that he will continue to split his time between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. He acknowledged that having a fully operational embassy in Jerusalem will take a long time. Government estimates have said up to seven years.
“We will start the transition as quickly as we can,” Friedman told reporters in a conference call from Tel Aviv. “I think there’ll be interim steps, probably a good number between now and the full transition.”
Friedman said nearly 800 people are expected to attend the opening ceremony, including private foreign delegations and a Washington contingent featuring Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner. Yet the “opening” will mainly consist of unveiling a plaque that says “US embassy” that will be attached to a building that has been a consular office in Jerusalem’s Armona neighbourhood for years.