US signs deal to build permanent embassy in Jerusalem

The United States and Israel signed an agreement Wednesday to build a permanent US embassy compound in Jerusalem, officials said. The deal allocates land at the Allenby compound in southern Jerusalem for the new site. Israel's foreign ministry hosted the signing, calling it proof of the countries' enduring alliance.

Where will the new US embassy in Jerusalem be built?

The new US embassy will be built at the Allenby compound in southern Jerusalem. The site consolidates diplomatic operations that have been spread across multiple Jerusalem locations since 2018. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee called the compound the future "mothership" of American diplomatic activity in Israel.

Why did the US move its embassy to Jerusalem?

President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017, during his first term, and ordered the relocation of the US mission from Tel Aviv. The decision broke with decades of US policy, under which Jerusalem's final status was expected to be settled through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Jerusalem has remained one of the most contested cities in that conflict.

Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and later declared the whole city its undivided capital, a claim not widely recognized internationally. Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Because of these competing claims, most countries have kept their embassies in Tel Aviv, arguing Jerusalem's status should be resolved under international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.

What did US and Israeli officials say about the agreement?

Huckabee said at the signing ceremony that Washington recognizes Jerusalem as "the eternal, indigenous, and forever capital of the Jewish people." He said the United States was planting its flag on Jerusalem soil for a new, permanent compound. He added that the decision reflected what he called a determination made long before the country's founding.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the agreement underscored the "unbreakable alliance" between the two nations. He said Trump's 2017 decision to move the embassy set the record straight, and that Wednesday's agreement made that commitment even deeper and more enduring.

Why is the embassy site controversial?

The Israeli rights group Adalah denounced the construction plan, saying it enshrines a profound historical injustice. The group said the site sits on land confiscated from Palestinian owners under Israel's 1950 Absentees' Property Law. It added that it had previously filed an objection on behalf of the original owners' descendants, some of whom hold US and Jordanian citizenship.

Adalah said the US government, by proceeding with the plan, directly endorses Israel's mechanisms of dispossession and displacement. The group said this violates the property rights of the original Palestinian owners and their descendants, in defiance of international law.

How does this fit into wider US-Israel relations?

The embassy agreement comes after the United States and Israel fought alongside each other in a military campaign against Iran. It also follows reports of tension between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over efforts to end that war.