Moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds is “not constructive” and jeopardizes American diplomats, the State Department has warned, opposing attempts by the new Congress to force the relocation.
“We continue to believe – it’s our policy and it’s been – and it was policy of previous administrations as well – that moving the embassy to Jerusalem is not a good idea,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.
“It’s not constructive to the overall peace process. It could actually put some of our people, some of our troops, those that work at the embassy, in harm’s way, and needlessly so,” he added.
The comments came a day after Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Dean Heller introduced the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act on Tuesday, the day one of the 115th Congress.
In his speech at Congress, Cruz called Jerusalem al-Quds “the eternal and undivided” capital…