US Signs Deal to Construct Permanent Embassy in Jerusalem

The United States on Wednesday signed an agreement to construct a permanent embassy compound in Jerusalem, a move Israel hailed as another sign of the "unbreakable alliance" between the two allies.

During his first term, US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017 and ordered the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv. Since then, embassy operations have been conducted from multiple locations in Jerusalem while plans for a permanent site were finalised.

Speaking at the signing ceremony at Israel's Foreign Ministry, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said the new embassy would reaffirm Washington's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

"The United States not only recognises Jerusalem as the eternal, indigenous and forever capital of the Jewish people, but also that the United States says that we're going to do something about it," Huckabee said.

"We are going to plant our flag, our American flag, on the soil of Jerusalem for a permanent and brand-new embassy compound that will serve as our mothership of diplomatic activities here in Israel."

He also remarked: "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."

The new embassy compound will be built at the Allenby site in southern Jerusalem.

Trump's 2017 decision marked a major shift in longstanding US policy, which had maintained that Jerusalem's final status should be determined through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

Jerusalem remains one of the central disputes in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel captured East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and later declared the entire city its undivided capital, a claim that has not received broad international recognition. Palestinians, meanwhile, seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state.

Because of the competing claims, most countries have traditionally kept their embassies in Tel Aviv, arguing that Jerusalem's status should be resolved through peace negotiations in line with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the agreement to establish a permanent US embassy in Jerusalem highlighted the enduring partnership between the two countries.

"President Trump's historic decision in 2017 to move the embassy to Jerusalem set the record straight," Saar said at the ceremony. "And today, with the agreement to begin building a permanent embassy complex, that decision becomes even deeper and more enduring."

In a separate post on X, Huckabee wrote: "Just as the US is vital and irreplaceable for Israel, Israel is vital for the US and its interests in the region."

The agreement comes after the United States and Israel cooperated in a months-long military campaign against Iran. It also follows reports of tensions between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over efforts to end the conflict with Iran.