U.S. Officially Opens
Embassy In Jerusalem

JNS Staff

T

he United States officially opened
its new embassy in Jerusalem on
Monday, fulfilling a key promise
made by President Donald Trump.
Trump, who did not attend the cer-
emony, issued a video greeting to the
attendees. “Today, Jerusalem is the seat
of Israel’s government; it is the home
of the Israeli legislature and the Israeli
Supreme Court, and Israel’s prime minis-
ter and president,” he said.
“Israel is a sovereign nation, with the
right like every other sovereign nation
to determine its own capital. Yet for
many years, we failed to acknowledge
the obvious: the plain reality that Israel’s
capital is Jerusalem. Today we follow
through on this recognition and open
our embassy in the historic and sacred
land of Jerusalem,” he added, noting that
it was opening “many, many years ahead
of schedule.”
The embassy ceremony, which was
attended by some 800 American and
Israeli officials, was held in Jerusalem’s
Arnona neighborhood, the site of the
new embassy.

Its opening capped a move first set
forth by Congress in 1995 as part of
the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which
recognized Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel and called for the relocation of
the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
However, successive American presi-
dents, citing national security issues,
had issued six-month waivers on the
move until Trump announced his deci-
sion in December 2017 to go forward
with it.
The United States has long had a con-
sulate in Jerusalem, which mainly dealt
with the Palestinian Authority. The new
Jerusalem embassy will see the ambassa-
dor’s office and about 50 staff members
relocate to an already existing former
U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, while the
United States plans to build an entirely
new embassy building in the city.
The Trump administration was well-
represented at the embassy dedication,
with Deputy Secretary of State John
J. Sullivan, Secretary of the Treasury
Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s son-in-law
and senior adviser Jared Kushner,
Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka
Trump and Special Representative

PHOTO BY YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90.

world

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the official opening ceremony of the U.S. embassy
in Jerusalem on May 14, 2018. To his left is U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.

for International Negotiations Jason
Greenblatt all attending. Additionally,
U.S. Ambassador to Israel David
Friedman presided over the embassy
ceremony.
In his address, Kushner said that when
Trump makes a promise, he “keeps it.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu also thanked the U.S. leader
for “having the courage” to move the
embassy.
“What a glorious day for Israel,” he
said. “Remember this moment. This is
history. President Trump, by recogniz-
ing history you have made history. All of
us are deeply moved; all of us are deeply
grateful.
“This is a great day,” continued
the prime minister. “A great day for
Jerusalem. A great day for the State of
Israel. A day that will be engraved in our
national memory for generations.”
The Israeli leader also thanked

Kushner and Greenblatt for their “tire-
less efforts to advance peace.”
Netanyahu stated that “the truth and
peace are interconnected. A peace that
is built on lies will crash on the rocks of
Middle Eastern realities. You can only
build peace on truth. And the truth is
that Jerusalem has been and will always
be the capital of the Jewish people, the
capital of the Jewish state.”
The opening of the embassy on
Monday also came amid clashes
between Israeli security forces and
Palestinians along border with Gaza,
which killed dozens and injured more
than 1,000.
Kushner addressed the clashes along
the border in his speech, saying: “As we
have seen from the protests of the last
month and even today, those provoking
violence are part of the problem and not
part of the solution.” •

58 Dead In Monday’s
Riot On Gaza Strip

Times of Israel Staff

T

he Gaza Strip’s Hamas-run health
ministry said Tuesday morning
that a baby was among those
killed during violent border clashes along
the territory’s border with Israel the pre-
vious day, bringing the overall death toll
in the day’s bloody events to 58.
The baby died from inhaling tear
gas fired at Palestinian protesters, the
health ministry said, adding that six
minors were slain in border clashes
and 1,360 people wounded by gunfire,
including 130 in serious or critical con-
dition.
Hebrew-language media, quoting
Palestinian sources, reported that 10 of
those killed were terror operatives.
It was by far the deadliest day of
cross-border violence since the dev-
astating 2014 war between Israel and
Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
More than 35,000 Palestinians,
encouraged by the Palestinian terror
group Hamas, rushed the border in an
attempt to carry out attacks on Israeli
security forces and also infiltrate Israel.

60

May 17 • 2018

jn

Throughout the day, Gaza protesters
set tires ablaze, sending thick plumes
of black smoke into the air, and hurled
firebombs and stones toward Israeli
troops across the border.
The IDF has said that three of those
killed had attempted to plant explo-
sives along the border while in other
incidents the IDF responded when
Gazans opened fire on them.
Additionally, Israeli Air Force air-
craft targeted five Hamas targets,
including a military training facility, in
northern Gaza. “The strike was con-
ducted in response to the violent acts
carried out by Hamas over the last few
hours along the security fence,” the
IDF said.
The Israeli military, which has come
under international criticism for its
use of force against protesters, said
Hamas tried to carry out bombing
and shooting attacks under the cover
of the protests and released video of
protesters ripping away parts of the
barbed-wire border fence.
Israel’s Shin Bet security services

Palestinian protesters during clashes with Israeli forces along the border with the Gaza strip east of Gaza
City on May 11, 2018.

accused Iran of funding Hamas’ pro-
tests. The accusation was made fol-
lowing the arrest of a Hamas member
caught infiltrating Israel, who told
investigators that Hamas was instruct-
ing members to cut the fence and
steal security cameras so rioters could
pull the fences down on Monday.
Israeli forces were gearing up
Tuesday for a second straight day of
protests and the prospect that they
may spread, as Palestinians mark a
yearly commemoration of the mass
displacement of Palestinian Arabs
during the 1948 war with Israel, which
they term the “catastrophe,” or Nakba.
Tuesday was expected to be the
culmination of seven weeks of pro-

tests at the Gaza border fence, with
Israeli fears that more than 100,000
Palestinians could take part in wide-
spread demonstrations encouraged by
the Hamas terror group.
Similar demonstrations were
expected in the West Bank and possi-
bly along the Lebanese border.
As of Tuesday morning, the IDF
saids several hundred Palestinians
were protesting throughout the West
Bank to mark Nakba Day. The main
points of friction, the army says, were
in Hebron, Ramallah, at Rachel’s Tomb
near Bethlehem and at the Qalandiya
checkpoint north of Jerusalem. •

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