US Ambassador Mike Huckabee and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar signed the land allocation agreement at the Foreign Ministry for the permanent US Embassy building at the Allenby Camp compound in Jerusalem. Huckabee said the signing shows that promises were kept, celebrating Jerusalem as Israel's eternal, undivided capital.
Thu, Jul 2 at 16:03 Jerusalem — US Ambassador Mike Huckabee and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar signed the formal land allocation agreement for the permanent US Embassy building at the Allenby Camp compound in Jerusalem earlier today at the Foreign Ministry. The signing formalizes a three-day sequence that began on Tue Jun 30, when Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved a reduced lease fee for the plot. The following day, Wed Jul 1 at 13:46, Huckabee handed Sa'ar a symbolic $1 representing the lease fee in a ceremony originally scheduled to include Prime Minister Netanyahu, who canceled last minute, as The Zioneer reported.
Over the course of Wed July 1, The Zioneer published several versions of the story tracking the symbolic handover and Huckabee's remarks. In the first version (13:46), Huckabee was quoted thanking President Trump for his "brave and bold decision" to move the embassy. In subsequent versions the same day, the symbolic $1 transfer and Sa'ar's response — that the agreement sends a message to Israel's enemies that the US-Israel bond is stronger than ever — were added. By Thu Jul 2, the actual binding land allocation agreement was signed, moving from a symbolic to a legal instrument.
As The Zioneer reported on Tue Jun 30, Finance Minister Smotrich's lease-fee reduction was the practical step that enabled the Allenby Camp site to proceed. The broader context of US-Israel diplomatic relations has been framed by Huckabee in recent weeks: at a JNS event on Jun 22 he declared the bond "unbreakable" despite tensions, and on Jun 21 he said he feels safer in Jerusalem than in "crazy town" Washington D.C. The embassy compound project represents the permanent fulfillment of the 2018 interim relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem.
No date has been announced for the start of construction, and no architectural plans or timeline were disclosed in the signing. The arrangement remains a land allocation agreement, not a construction contract; further approvals and contracting steps remain unconfirmed.
4 developments
- DevelopingIsrael advances permanent US Embassy compound in Jerusalem with lease fee reduction
- DevelopingUS Ambassador Huckabee: US-Israel bond unbreakable despite tensions
- DevelopingUS Ambassador Mike Huckabee: Israel-Lebanon deal 'historic,' both nations no longer at war
- DevelopingUS State Department: Lebanon-Israel agreement paves path to lasting peace
Source and signal
- Internal intake