House Republicans seek to block moving U.S. Embassy out of Jerusalem

More than 30 House Republicans signed on to a letter requesting to block any step to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel out of Jerusalem.

They have called on Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer and Kevin McCarthy to ensure that the 2021 State, Foreign Operations and Related Agencies bill, primarily funding the U.S. State Department, which oversees embassies, includes language that prohibits funding from “being used to move the United States’ embassy out of Jerusalem.”

“In a time when we are seeing the increasing normalization of relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, we must ensure that the United States does not take a step backward by moving the U.S. embassy out of Jerusalem, which is why we seek the prohibition of any FY21 funding in the State, Foreign Operations and Related Agencies bill being used to move the United States’ embassy out of Jerusalem,” wrote the GOP congressional members.

Currently, there is no intention in Congress to move the embassy back to Tel Aviv.

President-elect Joe Biden pledged not to do so, even as he called President Donald Trump’s decision to move the diplomatic base from Tel Aviv “short-sighted and frivolous.”

However, Israeli media reported last month that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had pressured Biden to change his stance on keeping the embassy in Jerusalem, in exchange for the PA’s return to the negotiating table.

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