Pence says US embassy will move to Jerusalem by end of next year

Pence tells Knesset members that when he visit Yad Vashem tomorrow with his wife, they will “marvel at the faith and resilience” of the Jewish people, who rose up three years after the Holocaust to establish the State of Israel.

Pence then recites the “shehechiyanu” blessing in Hebrew, eliciting a standing ovation from MKs.

He says the US is proud to have been the first country to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Trump, he says, “righted a 70-year wrong” by acknowledging Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

As such, he says the US embassy will move to Jerusalem “no later than next year.”

Pence recalls that Trump called on all parties to maintain the status quo in the city’s holy sites and that the president said his declaration did not prejudge the final borders in the city.

“We know Israelis want peace, and we know that Israelis need no lectures on the price of war. The people of Israel know the terrible price all too well,” Pence says. “Your prime knows that price, he himself was nearly killed in battle.”

“And you who know the price of war know best what the blessings of peace can bring,” he adds.