Key facts
- The US signed an agreement on Wednesday to construct a new, permanent embassy compound in southern Jerusalem.
- US Ambassador Mike Huckabee stated that Washington recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
- The Israeli human rights group Adalah condemned the construction, calling it a violation of international law and Palestinian property rights.
The United States has signed an agreement to build a new, permanent embassy compound in southern Jerusalem. During the signing ceremony at Israel’s foreign ministry, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee declared that Washington "recognizes Jerusalem as the eternal, indigenous, and forever capital of the Jewish people." He added that the new compound will serve as the "mothership of diplomatic activities" in Israel.
However, the Israeli human rights group Adalah has condemned the construction. In a statement, the group said the embassy "enshrines a profound, historical injustice" and "directly endorses Israel’s unlawful mechanisms of dispossession and displacement, violating the fundamental property rights of the original Palestinian owners and their descendants, in direct defiance of international law."