US Embassy will hold annual July 4th celebration in Jerusalem for first time
State Department says American Independence Day event to take place in capital’s International Convention Center
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JTA — The US Embassy in Israel will hold its annual Fourth of July celebration in Jerusalem for the first time.
The event traditionally has been held at the home of the US ambassador in Herzliya. In March, Ambassador David Friedman moved into a residence in a building in western Jerusalem that formerly functioned as a consulate. He also owns a home in Jerusalem.
Last year, two months after the US Embassy was moved to Jerusalem, the annual celebration was held in Airport City, near Ben Gurion International Airport.
This year, it will be held on July 2 at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem.
“The US Embassy to Israel will hold its July 4th celebration in Jerusalem this year, consistent with the embassy’s move to Jerusalem and the recent fulfillment of the Jerusalem Embassy Act,” a State Department official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The 1995 act called for the United States to move its embassy to Jerusalem, but President Donald Trump’s three predecessors exercised a clause that allowed a waiver due to national security reasons. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama insisted that the status of Jerusalem should be determined in a peace agreement.
Trump had used the waiver three times but did not sign it last month, following Friedman’s move to Jerusalem, which, along with the embassy relocation, fulfilled the act’s requirements.
The Times of Israel Community.