On December 6, 2017, the United States officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel.Proclamation 9683 of December 6, 2017, 82 FR 58331 U.S. president Donald Trump, who signed the presidential proclamation, also ordered the relocation of the American diplomatic mission to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, constituting what is now the Embassy of the United States in Jerusalem, which was established on the grounds of the former Consulate General of the United States in Jerusalem. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the decision and praised the announcement by the Trump administration. On December 8, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson clarified that Trump's statement "did not indicate any final status for Jerusalem" and "was very clear that the final status, including the borders, would be left to the two parties to negotiate and decide" in reference to the recognition's impact on the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.
Trump's decision was rejected by the vast majority of world leaders; the United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on December 7, where 14 out of 15 members condemned it, but the motion was overturned by U.S. veto power. The United Kingdom, France, Japan, Italy, and Sweden were among the countries who criticized Trump's decision at the meeting. Other countries supported the move; Guatemala affirmed their intent to issue a follow-up on the U.S. recognition and relocate their diplomatic mission to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, and the Czech Republic, Honduras, Paraguay, and Romania stated that they were also considering the same course of action. Italian politician Federica Mogherini, as the foreign policy chief of the European Union (EU), stated that all EU member countries were united on the issue of Jerusalem—she reaffirmed the EU's firm stance on East Jerusalem being the capital of an independent Palestinian state. By late 2022, only Guatemala, Honduras, and Kosovo had established diplomatic missions to Israel in Jerusalem; Paraguay reversed their 2018 decision within months, and the Honduran foreign ministry has since stated that they are considering a reversal of their decision as well.
The Palestinian Authority stated that the recognition and relocation disqualifies the U.S. from mediating peace talks, while Hamas called for the beginning of a new against Israel in the aftermath of Trump's declaration. Following the U.S. announcement, Palestinians held demonstrations throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and pro-Palestinian demonstrations were held in various countries around the world. By December 25, 2017, Palestinian militants in Gaza had fired almost 30 rockets towards Israel; though almost half of these landed within Gaza, two of them inflicted minor property damage in Israel, near the cities of Ashkelon and Sderot. In the aftermath of the attacks, Hamas reportedly arrested the perpetrating militants in an attempt to prevent an Israeli military response, which never occurred.
On February 23, 2018, the U.S. State Department announced that the new American embassy in Israel was scheduled to open in May of that year. It was officially inaugurated in Jerusalem on May 14, 2018—a date coinciding with Israel's 70th Yom Ha'atzmaut. Representatives from 32 countries were present at the event, including EU members Austria, the Czech Republic, and Romania. Along the Gaza–Israel border, the Israeli military responded to a massive Palestinian protest with tear gas and sniper fire, resulting in the deaths of at least 58 Palestinians and marking the highest single-day death toll since the 2014 Gaza War. The Israeli government defended the military's use of force as having been a necessary measure in the face of the protesters' throwing of rocks and explosives towards the Israelis. Just over a year later, on March 25, 2019, the Trump administration signed in another U.S. presidential proclamation recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel.
Background
After the founding of the State of Israel in 1949, the United States recognized the new state, but considered it desirable to establish an international regime for Jerusalem, with its final status resolved through negotiations. The US opposed Israel's declaration of Jerusalem as its capital in 1949 and opposed Jordan's plan to make Jerusalem its second capital announced in 1950. The US also opposed Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem after the 1967 war. The official United States position has been that the future of Jerusalem should be the subject of a negotiated settlement. Subsequent administrations have maintained the position that Jerusalem's future not be the subject of unilateral actions that could prejudice negotiations, such as by moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
During the 1992 presidential election, Bill Clinton promised that his administration would "support Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel" and criticized President George H. W. Bush for having "repeatedly challenged Israel’s sovereignty over a united Jerusalem." However, after the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Clinton administration did not proceed with their plans in order not to disturb the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
In 1995, Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which declared that "Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel."Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, , November 8, 1995, 109 Stat. 398. The bill also stated that the American embassy should move to Jerusalem within five years. Backing the legislation was viewed by some as reflecting American domestic politics. Clinton opposed the Jerusalem Embassy Act and signed a waiver every six months delaying the move.
During the 2000 election campaign, George W. Bush criticized Clinton for not moving the embassy as he had promised to do, and said he planned on initiating the process himself as soon as he was elected. However, once he took office, he backed down on his promise.
In 2008, Democratic candidate Barack Obama called Jerusalem the 'capital of Israel'. On June 4, 2008, Obama told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), in his first foreign policy speech after capturing the Democratic nomination the day before, that "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided." However, he backtracked almost immediately, saying "Well, obviously, it's going to be up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues. And Jerusalem will be part of those negotiations."
During the 2016 US Presidential election, one of Trump's campaign promises was to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which he described as the "eternal capital of the Jewish people." On June 1, 2017, Trump signed a waiver on the Jerusalem Embassy Act, delaying the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem for another six months, as had every president before him since 1995. The White House stated that this would help them negotiate a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, and that the promised move would come at a later time.
Announcement
On December 6, 2017, President Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and stated that the American embassy would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In his statement Donald Trump did not mention East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, but he did say that United States recognition did not resolve the dispute over Jerusalem's borders. President Trump explicitly stated his support for maintaining the status quo of the holy sites within the Old City. Following the announcement, Trump signed the waiver, delaying the move by at least another six months.
Following Trump's announcement, American embassies in Turkey, Jordan, Germany and Britain issued security alerts for Americans traveling or living in those countries. The United States also issues a general warning for Americans abroad about the possibility of violent protests. The American consulate in Jerusalem restricted travel of government employees to Jerusalem's Old City. The US Embassy in Jordan banned employees from leaving the capital and children of embassy employees were told to stay home from school.
State Department remarks Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later clarified that the President's statement "did not indicate any final status for Jerusalem" and "was very clear that the final status, including the borders, would be left to the two parties to negotiate and decide." State Department officials said on December 8 that there will not be any immediate practical changes in how the US deals with Jerusalem, including its policy of not listing a country on the passports of citizens born in Jerusalem (a decision changed 3 years later).
When asked what country the Western Wall is in, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said "We're not taking any position on the overall boundaries. We are recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel."
American domestic reactions Former US ambassadors to Israel Out of 11 former US ambassadors to Israel, nine were critical of Trump's policy change. Ogden R. Reid who served as an ambassador to Israel from 1959 to 1961 was one of the exceptions, saying, "I think it's the right decision." Edward S. Walker Jr. who served from 1997 to 1999 also supported recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital: "It's really a question of what are the lines, the borders, to be drawn around the state of Israel and the ultimate state of Palestine." Daniel C. Kurtzer noted America's international isolation in his remarks and Richard H. Jones expressed concerns that moving the embassy would fuel further violence. A number of former ambassadors, such as Martin S. Indyk stated that they were open to recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel's capital, provided Israel would agree to slow settlement construction and recognize East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
American Christian organizations American Christian organizations were divided: the National Council of Churches (NCC) which represents 38 different denominations issued a statement saying the change in policy was likely to exacerbate regional conflict and cost lives, while the Liberty Counsel, a right wing evangelical organization, supported the decision. The move had been supported by many conservative American evangelical organizations and leaders including American Christian Leaders for Israel, Jerry Falwell, and Mike Huckabee. Johnnie Moore, one of Trump's evangelical advisers, said the announcement fulfilled a campaign promise to Trump's evangelical voter base. It was also welcomed by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, the founder of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
American Jewish organizations The majority of prominent American Jewish organizations welcomed the move, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which comprises 51 national Jewish organizations, as well as by a number of its member organizations: AIPAC, the Jewish Federations of North America, the American Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee, Hadassah, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the National Council of Young Israel. The Conservative Movement's US, Israel and global branches also welcomed US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Orthodox Union, the US' largest umbrella organization representing Orthodox Jews, thanked Trump for "beginning the process of relocating the US Embassy to Jerusalem".