US media have reported that Washington is accelerating efforts to relocate the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds by the year 2019.
The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the administration of US President Donald Trump had plans to transfer the embassy to an existing consular building in the Arnona neighborhood of West Jerusalem al-Quds as soon as 2019, instead of building a new facility there.
The US State Department has decided to modify an existing property to accommodate the new mission, according to the media, the plan will make the move significantly less expensive and allow US Ambassador David Friedman and embassy staff to move to Jerusalem al-Quds by next year.
The New York Times said Friedman had reportedly pressed to move the embassy in 2018, but the decision had met with opposition from US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had called for more time to upgrade the consular…