Congress has bristled at the executive branch’s refusal to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and in 1995 passed legislation requiring that the U.S. embassy be relocated there.
But the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy act allows the president to waive that order for six month periods for national security reasons, which presidents from both parties have consistently done since the law
Mr. Trump pledged repeatedly on the campaign trail to move the embassy. However, former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush made similar comments as candidates that went unfulfilled.
“Every other candidate made the promise but did not act on it because of being told it would inflame opinion throughout the Arab world and potentially trigger violent demonstrations against our embassies,” said Dennis Ross, who advised multiple presidents on the Middle East, including President Barack Obama.
It’s unclear exactly where Mr. Trump would move the U.S. embassy, but its location could make a difference. Mr. Ross, now at the Washington Institute, said that practically speaking, moving the embassy to West Jerusalem shouldn’t affect the eventual “final status” of the city because few question whether that area of the city would be part of Israel in any final settlement of the decades-old conflict.
“But Jerusalem for both Israelis and Palestinians (and Arabs) is an emotional issue and it is easy to ratchet up those emotions when it appears the future of the city is being affected. Rational arguments don’t tend to be heard,” he said.
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