Israel publishes plan for US Embassy building in occupied Jerusalem

A detailed plan of the building intended to be the permanent US Embassy in Jerusalem was published yesterday by the Israeli occupation municipality. According to The Times of Israel, the embassy will be on Derech Hebron between Hanoch Albek Street and Daniel Yanovsky Street, an area known by its British Mandate-era name of Camp Allenby.

“After almost four years of hard work with the American Embassy in Jerusalem, we are pleased that the zoning plans were published this morning for the new Allenby complex,” explained Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum. “The US Embassy in such a central part of the city will upgrade the urban landscape of the neighbourhood and connect it to all areas of the capital through the Light Rail network that will stop almost at its doors. We hope that more countries will follow and move their embassies to our capital, Jerusalem.”

The building plan includes an embassy, offices, residences, parking and security structures. It will be replacing the current temporary mission that has been used since former US President Donald Trump transferred it from Tel Aviv in a landmark move in 2018. No expected completion date has been revealed.

The Trump administration also encouraged other countries to move their embassies to Jerusalem. Other than the US, though, only three have embassies in the occupied city: Kosovo, Honduras and Guatemala. They all moved from Tel Aviv after the US relocation.

When the state of Israel was founded in occupied Palestine in 1948, it was created more or less according to the 1947 Partition Plan for Palestine drafted by the UN. This designated Jerusalem as an area to be governed by an international body. However, Israel occupied the Western half of the city until 1967, when it took control of the Eastern, Palestinian side of the Jerusalem as well.

The occupation state annexed the whole city in 1980. This annexation is not recognised as legitimate in international law, which still considers the city to be occupied territory. That is why the vast majority of countries still maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv.

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