A bill being introduced by three Republican lawmakers is threatening to cut funding to the State Department until it acknowledges Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel and subsequently moves the U.S. Embassy. Republican Senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Dean Heller have taken the lead on the new legislation which would enforce a 1995 bill that approved the U.S. Embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to Israel’s capital. The new bill comes after the Obama Administration has refused to recognize Jerusalem as the capital and has made efforts to halt the moving of the embassy.
The three GOP Senators introduced the “Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act” that would fulfill a 1995 bill entitled “The Jerusalem Embassy and Relocation Act” which recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and promised to move the U.S. Embassy there. The act has yet to be fulfilled as the Obama Administration, as well as previous Administrations, have thwarted efforts to uphold the commitment. In the new act, certain funding is to be withheld until the U.S. Embassy is relocated.
“Jerusalem is the eternal and undivided capital of Israel,” Sen. Cruz said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the Obama administration’s vendetta against the Jewish state has been so vicious that to even utter this simple truth – let alone the reality that Jerusalem is the appropriate venue for the American embassy in Israel – is shocking in some circles. But it is finally time to cut through the double-speak and broken promises and do what Congress said we should do in 1995: formally move our embassy to the capital of our great ally Israel. I am pleased to co-sponsor this legislation with Senator Heller and Senator Rubio, and I look forward to working with the Trump administration to make this happen.”
Sen. Rubio said, “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish state of Israel, and that’s where America’s embassy belongs. It’s time for Congress and the President-Elect to eliminate the loophole that has allowed presidents in both parties to ignore U.S. law and delay our embassy’s rightful relocation to Jerusalem for over two decades.”
In a statement, Sen. Heller stated that his support for the Jewish nation was “unwavering” and said that for years he has “advocated for America’s need to reaffirm its support for one of our nation’s strongest allies by recognizing Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.”
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