WASHINGTON, DC — Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, told Breitbart News last week that he is sure President Donald Trump will move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as promised.
Shortly before President Trump’s historic announcement last Wednesday, the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, said that moving the embassy would be as simple as declaring the consulate in Jerusalem as the embassy by changing the plaque on it. However, U.S. officials said that the logistics behind such a move are far more intricate and it could take much longer to move the ambassador, his entire team, military officials, and everything else to a new facility.
Asked to react to the pending embassy move, Dermer told Breitbart News, “I actually think people are focused on the wrong issue. The biggest issue for me was the recognition of Jerusalem as our capital. And I wouldn’t read too much into the fact that they’re not doing it tomorrow.”
While moving the embassy to Jerusalem could take several years, Dermer said he was not worried the move would not eventually happen. “You don’t really undo a recognition like this. That’s a big deal. I’m sure it’s going to happen,” he said of the embassy move. “I can’t imagine that being reversed in the future. This was the historic decision [Wednesday].”
The State Department does not currently recognize Americans born in Jerusalem as being born in Israel, preferring to wait until a final status deal is reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The State Department manual currently instructs: “For a person born in Jerusalem, write JERUSALEM as the place of birth in the passport. Do not write Israel, Jordan or West Bank for a person born within the current municipal borders of Jerusalem.”
Asked if he thinks the State Department’s refusal to write “Israel” on passports of U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem would change following President Trump’s historic announcement Dermer said, “I would assume so. I wouldn’t see a reason why that wouldn’t.”
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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