An alliance of some 60 influential American Christian leaders have signed a letter delivered on Tuesday (16 May) to U.S. President Donald Trump calling on his administration to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to relocate the U.S. Embassy there. Presented to the president less than a week before his visit to Israel, the letter declares, “the time has come, at long last, to uphold American law by moving the U.S. Embassy to Israel’s eternal indivisible capital city of Jerusalem.”

Referencing the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, the letter notes that Congress has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and called for the U.S. Embassy to be moved there by May 31, 1999. However, due to presidential waivers issued every six months delaying the implementation of that law, Israel remains the only country where the U.S. government does not have its embassy in the functioning capital of the country. This “doublespeak” must end, the signatories to the letter insist. Thus, they urged President Trump to send the message early in his administration that the United States would stand with its closest and only true democratic ally in the Middle East by showing due respect for Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. READ MORE


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