US Ambassador Nides moves into new residence in Jerusalem

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides has moved into a new home in downtown Jerusalem and his embassy has filed a request to the Foreign Ministry to recognize the building as the envoy’s official residence, a US official confirms to The Times of Israel.

The building is located on Emek Refaim street in Jerusalem’s yuppity German Colony neighborhood.

Nides had been mostly staying at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem since arriving in Israel last November.

The old US ambassador’s residence had been a seaside compound in the Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya, but it was sold by the Trump administration to the late casino mogul Sheldon Adelson after the former president moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The sale was seen as having been designed to prevent future administrations from rolling back the embassy move.

But Biden officials made clear from the get-go that they never planned to reverse the move, and Nides told US senators at his confirmation hearing that he would be living in Jerusalem and respects the decision by the previous administration to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.