World
Israel, US sign land agreement for permanent American embassy complex in Jerusalem
Israel and the United States signed an agreement on Wednesday to allocate land at the Allenby Complex for the construction of a permanent US Embassy compound in Jerusalem.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion attended the formal signing ceremony at the Foreign Ministry.
Washington currently operates its embassy at the former US Consulate building in Jerusalem, which was redesignated as the embassy after US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital during his first term in 2017 and relocated the embassy from Tel Aviv in 2018.
“Today is another historic day for the US-Israel relationship as the US receives the property that will be the future home of the new US Embassy complex — deepening and expanding our presence in Jerusalem — the eternal capital of Israel,” Huckabee said in a statement shared by the Foreign Ministry.
Speaking at the ceremony, the US ambassador said Washington “recognizes Jerusalem as the eternal, indigenous and forever capital of the Jewish people.”
“We are going to plant our flag, our American flag, on the soil of Jerusalem for a permanent and a brand new embassy compound that will serve as our mothership of diplomatic activities here in Israel,” Huckabee added. “I would say God made that decision 3,800 years ago, and we finally got around to acknowledging what had been determined long before the United States of America came along.”
In his own remarks, Sa’ar said the agreement marks “another milestone in the unbreakable alliance between Israel and the United States,” calling Israel Washington’s “most important strategic asset in the Middle East.”
Trump’s “historic decision in 2017 to move the embassy to Jerusalem set the record straight,” Sa’ar said. “And today, with the agreement to begin building a permanent embassy complex, that decision becomes even deeper and more enduring.”
“Just as the United States is indispensable and irreplaceable to Israel, Israel is indispensable to the United States and to its interests throughout this region,” the foreign minister added.
The plan to build a permanent embassy structure in Jerusalem was approved in 2019, and in 2021, Jerusalem municipal authorities approved the proposal to construct the building on the so-called Allenby compound bordered by Hebron Road in southern Jerusalem.
Currently in an abandoned state, the plot has a rich history. During the British Mandate period, it housed the so-called Allenby Barracks, named after the UK’s General Edmund Allenby, who operated an army base there. Later, the State of Israel maintained a border police station there.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
