From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Israel, US sign land agreement for permanent American embassy complex in Jerusalem
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.
Israel and the United States sign an agreement to allocate land at the Allenby Complex for the construction of a permanent US Embassy compound in Jerusalem.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion attend a formal signing ceremony at the Foreign Ministry, according to a statement from the ministry.
Washington currently operates its embassy from the former US Consulate building in Jerusalem, which was redesignated as the embassy after US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 and relocated the embassy from Tel Aviv in 2018.
“Today is another historic day for the US-Israel relationship as the US receives the property that will be the future home of the new US Embassy complex — deepening and expanding our presence in Jerusalem — the eternal capital of Israel,” Huckabee says in a statement from the ministry.
Sa’ar adds: “We mark another milestone in the unbreakable alliance between Israel and the United States,” calling Israel Washington’s “most important strategic asset in the Middle East, saying, “just as the United States is indispensable and irreplaceable to Israel, Israel is indispensable to the United States and to its interests throughout this region.”
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