Global General

Obama delays moving US embassy to Jerusalem

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-04 11:38

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama ordered Thursday to delay moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

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"It is necessary, in order to protect the national security interests of the United States, to suspend for a period of six months the limitations" set forth in the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, said the president in a statement.

Obama had delayed to move the embassy to Jerusalem for six months in June.

The Jerusalem Embassy Act, which was passed by the US Congress in 1995, states that Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of Israel and that the US embassy should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999.

However, considering the status of Jerusalem, one of the most sensitive issues for the peace in the Middle East, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush had delayed the movement.
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