American plans to build a permanent embassy in Jerusalem have been put on hold, following a dispute amongst Israeli bureaucrats, Israel Hayom reported Monday morning.
While the Trump administration relocated the US mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018, the US retained its Tel Aviv facility, designating it a “branch office” of the Jerusalem embassy.
With the temporary Jerusalem embassy building – formerly the US consulate – too small to house the entire embassy, the move is set to be carried out in stages, with the current facility to be refurbished and expanded, while the US plans construction of a permanent embassy elsewhere in the city.
- The permanent building is expected to be completed in roughly ten years.
But Israeli red tape is hampering progress on the future embassy building, with the Israel Land Authority and the Israeli Finance Ministry deadlocked over the handover of a plot designated for the embassy.
- In 1988, the US State Department and the Israel Land Authority agreed that should the US relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Israel would swap land with the existing embassy, taking control over the property housing the embassy facility in Tel Aviv in exchange for a property in Jerusalem dubbed the “Allenby Plot”.
At the State Department’s request, the ILA agreed to allow the US to take possession of the Allenby Plot before vacating the Tel Aviv property, allowing for a smooth transition.
As a condition of the arrangement, however, the ILA demanded that the Israeli Finance Ministry compensate the ILA for its lost revenue during the transition period.
- The Finance Ministry has refused the demand, however, arguing that the revenue lost during the transition period must come out of the ILA’s existing budget.
Officials at the Finance Ministry did agree, however, to examine the possibility of offering state funding to cover the losses.
In the meantime, the ILA has refused to transfer the Allenby Plot, until an agreement is reached regarding compensation for the lost revenue.
Source: Arutz Sheva