U.S. Senate votes 97-3 to keep US embassy in Jerusalem
The U.S. Senate voted late Thursday night in favour of an amendment to the COVID-19 budget resolution to keep the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.
A view of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood, Feb. 24, 2018. Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
The final tally was 97-3. The three opposing votes were Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.)
The vote was put forward by Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)
Following the measure, Inhofe tweeted that the amendment “would make the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem permanent, effectively preventing it from being downgraded or moved. It’s an important message that we acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
The U.S. embassy in Israel was relocated to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv in May 2018 under former President Donald Trump after he declared U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.
While on the campaign trail, Democratic presidential candidate and current U.S. President Joe Biden said the embassy would remain in Jerusalem if he was elected, even as he called Trump’s decision to move the diplomatic base from Tel Aviv “short-sighted and frivolous.”
At the same time, Biden told donors that he would reopen a U.S. consulate in eastern Jerusalem to engage Palestinian leaders in talks about a “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I’ve been a proud supporter of a secure, democratic Jewish State of Israel my entire life,” Biden said at the time.
Still, he added: “My administration will urge both sides to take steps to keep the prospect of a two-state solution alive.”
(Israel Hayom via JNS)
This article originally appeared in Israel Hayom.
